


Between Periods

by caitwritesstuff



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Anxiety, Developing Friendships, Don't be scared by the tags, Drinking, Family Member Death, First Dates, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Happy Ending, High School Teacher AU, History Teacher Yuuri, It's like entirely floof, Job Loss, Literature Teacher Victor, M/M, Mutual Pining, Panic Attacks, Pining, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Teacher AU, chronic illness of a family member, dog fluff, more tags to be added later, soooooo much dog fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2018-10-27 06:20:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 62,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10803516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caitwritesstuff/pseuds/caitwritesstuff
Summary: Yuuri is a history teacher out of a job due to recent cut backs. It just so happens that Phichit works at a school that's needs a new history teacher. In walks Victor Nikiforov, the undeniably beautiful yet eccentric literature teacher from across the hall with a bit of an obsession with Russian lit and a certain adorable history teacher.AKA the Teacher AU that is now consuming my life.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this idea kind of came out of nowhere but I'm completely and utterly obsessed with it. I've spent the last three weeks outlining and planning this fic. I'm so happy to finally be able to share this with everyone!
> 
> I'd like to thank @memento-scribet @uncpanda and @nightwingdiva over on Tumblr for letting me bug them during the planning process for this thing. 
> 
> Enjoy!

_“I’m sorry Yuuri, I’m afraid we’re going to have to let you go. It’s been a pleasure -”_ Yuuri couldn’t hear the rest of what his boss was saying. Blood pounded against his ears and his vision went blurred. A suffocating tightening clenched at Yuuri’s chest and all that consumed his mind was one thought:

 

_Failure._

 

Despite not being able to comprehend any of the words leaving the man’s mouth, Yuuri nodded politely every so often, desperately thinking of his impending escape. He needed to get away, he needed to _breathe_. When the man stood up from behind his desk and extended his hand out to Yuuri, he took it as his cue to shake the man’s hand, gather his things and leave.

 

When he got back to the apartment Phichit, his best friend and roommate, immediately recognized the look on Yuuri’s face and just _knew_ what happened. Phichit ordered the greasiest delivery food possible and gave Yuuri the space he needed until he broke down on the Thai man’s shoulder by the end of the night.

 

Yuuri wallowed in his failure for three days before Phichit had enough and dragged Yuuri out of bed to kick his ass in gear. After a lengthy, tear filled, conversation with Phichit, Yuuri was determined to bounce back from losing his job and regain his confidence.

 

That was two months ago.         

 

“So . . . how’s the job hunt going?” Phichit asked cramming some lo mein noodles into his mouth, he cheeks puffing out slightly like one of his hamsters as he chewed. Yuuri sighed and set down his chopsticks. Since his break down, Yuuri’s been applying to every open position at every school within fifty miles with no luck. He’d had a few interviews but it never panned out for one reason or another. It was beyond demoralizing to continue on like this and Yuuri was seriously considering looking for just giving up and taking any job he could get, teaching or not.

 

“I had that interview yesterday but I haven’t heard back yet.” Yuuri explained, pushing a shred of carrot around the takeout container with his chopstick. A pit of anxiety was beginning to form in the pit of his stomach, effectively chasing away any appetite he had.

 

“You know Yuuri.” Phichit said hesitantly, clearly considering his next words carefully. “One of the teachers that works in the history department at my school is retiring at the end of the year. They’re still looking for his replacement if you want me to put in a good word for you.” Phichit offered, watching Yuuri’s reaction carefully.

 

“Thank you Phichit, but I think this is something I want to do on my own. Thank you though.” Yuuri explained. One of Yuuri’s greatest weaknesses was his pride. While Yuuri’s independence is also one of his strengths, his stubbornness to do things in his own time in his own way often had his loved ones pulling their hair out in frustration.

 

Phichit included.

Phichit nodded and dropped the subject. Yuuri was clearly set on doing this himself and Phichit could only make sure he was here to support Yuuri no matter what. But of course Phichit only had _so much_ self control before he had to take matters into his own hands.

 

A few days go by and Yuuri goes to interview for a part time teaching position at a school about forty five minutes away from the apartment. He didn’t necessarily want a part time position, especially so far away, but at this point he would take what he could get. He feels confident that it went well but he refused to celebrate until he got the call that he got the job.

 

As each day passed Yuuri got more and more anxious while waiting for the call to came so when his phone did finally light up with the number cold dread filled his veins. Yuuri’s hands were almost trembling when he answered the call.

 

* * *

 

“ _Kuso!”_ Yuuri yelled into the emptiness of the apartment before collapsing onto the couch and hanging his head in between his knees. All he could think about was what he could possibly do now. This interview felt like his last chance and now he had no idea where to go. He didn’t want to quit teaching now, he loved what he did, but it seemed like every school in the state was facing severe cut backs. “ _Kuso._ ” He whispered again in despair.

 

Yuuri felt like he was on the brink of a breakdown when his phone vibrated from the coffee table in front of him, alerting him to a text message. All Yuuri wanted to do was seclude himself away from the world and never reemerge but his phone buzzing again a few moments later pulled him out of his thoughts. With a defeated sigh, Yuuri reached out and picked up his phone.

 

  **Phichit**

_ 3 new messages _

 

**_‘ Jefferson County Schools - Careers’_ **

 

 _‘Hey man I know you said you wanted to do this on your own but I swear I haven’t said a word about you_ _to the hiring committee._ ** _’_**

 

_ ‘Please at least apply!’ _

 

Yuuri stared at the link to the website for longer than he cared to admit. What did he have to lose at this point? If he doesn’t get the job, he doesn’t get the job and he’ll take it as a sign that he should just move on. If he got the job he no longer relies on Phichit picking up the slack on the bills and he gets to continue doing what he loves with the added bonus of having his best friend as a colleague. 

 

Yuuri thought meticulously about his options. The pessimistic side of him wondered why he even bothered at this point, that this would only end in yet another, but he couldn’t deny that he was a man without options. He hated that he had left Phichit to foot the bills for two months. He knew Phichit would let him takes as much time as he needed but Yuuri hates the thought that he’s taking advantage of Phichit’s hospitality. 

 

The way Yuuri saw it, he didn’t have much of a choice.

  
_ ‘Fine. I’ll apply.’ _


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one’s a few days late. I had a pretty rough week at work and was too exhausted to write and on top of that I had the last of my exams and moving out of my dorm to deal with. Definitely not the momentum I wanted coming into this fic. Hopefully updates will be better from now on!
> 
> Enjoy!

A week goes by since Yuuri submitted his resume to the school that Phichit works at and in the meantime Yuuri started applying to any job that might take him, teaching or not. Luckily for him, Yuuri never had to resort to taking a retail job just yet because a cheerful sounding secretary from the school called him to schedule an interview the next day. Equal parts dread and hope sat in the pit of his stomach in anticipation for the interview that was scheduled for a couple of days after the initial call. 

 

“Breathe Yuuri.” Phichit urged when he noticed his friend’s knee bouncing rapidly, clearly on the verge of a full blown anxiety attack. It was the morning of his interview“You’re an amazing teacher, you were top of your class, and the kids absolutely adore you. Don’t worry, you’ll get the job.” Phichit reassured, placing a firm hand on Yuuri’s shoulder. Yuuri looked up, his eyes wide and full of uncertainty. 

 

“What if I don’t, Phichit?” Yuuri asked, his anxiety clear in his voice.  

 

“Then . . . well just keep looking.” Phichit supplied “Don’t worry Yuuri, you’ll land on your feet eventually. Just breathe. You can do this.”  

 

“I-I can do this.” Yuuri reassured himself. Yuuri took in a deep calming breath and exhaled. “I can do this.” He repeated a little more firmly, but no more sure of himself. It’s not news that Yuuri gets nervous. He used to get nervous during competitions a lifetime ago and interviews had the same effect on his emotional state. 

 

“Go knock ‘em dead!” Phichit exclaimed enthusiastically.

 

A few hours later Yuuri found himself sitting outside of Principal Feltsman’s office in a stiff uncomfortable chair while he waited to be called into the interview. The secretary, Sala Crispino as he desk plate read, greeted Yuuri warmly when he arrived and urged him to take a seat while he waited to be called in. Yuuri had only been settled in the seat for a few minutes when his knee started bouncing and his heart started to pound harder against his chest. 

 

_ ‘Breathe _ .’ Yuuri had to remind himself. 

 

“Yuuri Katsuki.” A firm but harsh voice barked out from behind him. Yuuri jumped slightly at the abruptness and shot out of the seat. 

 

“Yes sir. Thank you for seeing me today, sir.” Yuuri thanked taking hold of the aging man’s extended hand. Mr. Feltsman gripped Yuuri’s hand almost painfully tight. 

 

“Thank you for being here. The interview before you didn’t have that same courtesy.” Mr. Feltsman grumbled. 

 

“They didn’t show up?” Yuuri questioned. 

 

“He arrived ten minutes late and I turned him away. I value punctuality, Mr. Katsuki. Anything less will not be tolerated.” He warned as he guided Yuuri into his office. “Please sit.” He urged gesturing towards the chair set up facing the imposing desk. Yuuri sat down finding that this chair was no more comfortable than the last. 

 

“Let’s cut to the chase. Tell me why you think you are qualified for this position.”Mr. Feltsman demanded bluntly. Yuuri had been asked this question many times before during interviews but never by someone as intimidating as Yakov Feltsman. Even so, as nervous as he gets before a conflict Yuuri always seemed to find some semblance of confidence when he faced a challenge head on.

 

Yuuri answered the question and every other question he asked after it with honesty and confidence. In the moment, Yuuri felt comfortable with his answers but Yakov’s  perpetually stern features gave no indication as to how  _ he _ thought the interview was going. When he was satisfied that Yuuri had answered enough questions for him to base his decision off of he stood up, shook Yuuri’s hand once more and showed him to the door without so much as any closing remarks about the interview itself. He simply thanked Yuuri for his time and went on with the rest of his day.

 

Out of all the interviews that Yuuri had been in that one as was certainly different and maybe not in a good way. While Yuuri was comfortable that was the best interview he had yet, Mr. Feltsman didn’t seem all that impressed as indicated by his permanent cold scowl. Then again, Yuuri got the impression that it would take him convincing Mount Everest to bow before him to impress Yakov.

 

Yuuri walked away from his last hope feeling even more unsteady than when he came in. When he trudged through the door his eager roommate was expectantly waiting for Yuuri to say something. Yuuri walked past him and collapsed into his favorite chair, bringing his knees up to his chin. 

 

“So?” Phichit asked, finally unable to contain the question. Phichit wanted to let Yuuri talk about the interview on his own time, he really did, but sometimes his excitability got the better of him. Yuuri’s gaze shifted up to Phichit before going back to his sock covered toes. 

 

“Fine.” Yuuri mumbled, just barely audible to Phichit. 

 

“Just ‘ _ fine _ ’?” Phichit prodded, hoping to get a better descriptor than ‘fine’ out of his friend. Yuuri, however, seemed intent on letting the matter rest. He wanted to completely forget about the interview and move on with his life. Judging by Feltsman’s expression he wasn’t all that impressed by Yuuri and Yuuri wasn’t any more impressed by himself. It was a lost cause to hope that this would finally be the interview that led to a much needed job offer. 

 

“I’m sorry, I really don’t want to talk about it Phichit.” Yuuri sighed, burying his face further into his knees, fighting back the stinging tears that threatened to spill over. 

 

“Look, I know Yakov can be a bit of a hard ass -” Phichit tried to comfort, placing his hand on Yuuri’s shoulder. Yuuri reflexively shoved away the gesture of comfort. 

 

“I said I don’t want to talk about it.” Yuuri snapped. He immediately regretted his reaction. Phichit was only trying to help, he didn’t deserve Yuuri snapping at him. Yuuri sighed, pulled his glasses off and rubbed his tired strained eyes. “I’m sorry Phichit. I’m just really stressed right now. I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”

 

“It’s fine Yuuri! We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” Phichit comforted. 

 

“Thanks.”

 

“Hey, do you want to order from that Japanese place you like?” Phichit asked, phone in hand already.  Yuuri let his eyes slip closed and nodded wordlessly even though he had no interest in eating anything right now. 

 

While Phichit was ordering, Yuuri’s mind was running wild and nausea set in on his stomach. What is he going to do if he didn’t get this job? Would he really be content with giving up on a job he had passion for in exchange for job security? A part of him on already knew the answer to that question. 

 

Over the next couple of days Yuuri tried to put the interview out of his mind but he couldn’t help but to find himself wondering what, if anything, he could have done better. Was there another reason other than the shitty job market that was the cause of no school wanting to hire him?  Was there something wrong with  _ him _ ?

Yuuri was stuck in his own head when his cellphone started ringing in his pocket. He almost jumped out of his skin at the shrill sound. He pulled the phone out of his pocket and stared at the number with dread. 

 

This is it. It had to be. 

 

As his finger hovered over the answer button, Yuuri braced himself for the worst. There was no need to get his hopes up only to be shot down. 

 

“Hello?”

 

By some miraculous coincidence Phichit chose that moment to walk into the apartment, both arms heaping full of grocery bags. “Honey I’m  _ hooome. _ ” Phichit sang, dumping the bags onto the kitchen counter. Yuuri gave Phichit a pointed look and a look of understanding immediately spread across Phichit’s face when he saw Yuuri listening intently to the voice on the other end of the line. Phichit immediately abandoned the groceries in the kitchen and rushed over to sit by Yuuri on the couch, straining his ears to try to hear what the other person was saying to no avail. 

 

Yuuri listened to the other caller for some time, only giving minimal answers that gave Phichit no indication whatsoever what to expect when his friend hung up the phone. It also didn’t help that Yuuri wore a neutral expression during the entire interaction. 

 

“Thank you so much, sir. . . Yes sir . . . I will sir.” Yuuri responded before the conversation ended and he hung up the call. Yuuri looked down at his trembling hands and brought them up to wipe away the tears that were beginning to form in his eyes. 

 

“Yuuri?” Phichit asked hesitantly, worried about the reaction his friend was having. Phichit couldn’t see Yuuri’s face but he could tell that he was crying. Whatever had just happened on that phone call, Phichit was prepared to support his friend no matter what and in whatever way Yuuri needed him. 

 

Yuuri set his phone down on the couch, wiped his eyes with his sleeve and finally looked up to meet his best friend’s concerned gaze. The relief and joy in Yuuri’s eyes was undeniable.

 

“I got the job!” Yuuri said with a relieved sob. He felt as if the world had just been lifted off of his shoulders. “I got the job.” Yuuri repeated, letting the truth of the words wash over him. 

 

Yuuri never felt more relieved in his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope y'all enjoyed it! We're getting a little bit closer to meeting Victor but not just yet ;)
> 
> Feel free to reach out to me on Tumblr @cait-writes-stuff and on Twitter @Caitwritestuff


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all your comments and kudos! It means the world to me that other people are enjoying this fic as much as I do!

The remaining days of summer came and went and soon enough it was time to finally begin preparing for classes to start. Yuuri was glad that the summer is almost over. Yuuri’s just about tired of sitting around out of work and is eager to get into the classroom and start molding young minds again. Technically speaking, Yuuri didn’t actually miss anything as his contract with his last school ended when the term let out but it was still a terrifying prospect that he might have had to cut his loses at the end of the summer and move on. He supposed it was a good thing that Phichit’s suggestion came along when it did. 

The night before the teacher workdays were about to begin Yuuri was a nervous wreck. Starting a new job naturally came with a degree of nervousness but this was different. Yuuri felt like he had something to prove, maybe to himself, maybe to the rest of the world, all he knew was that he desperately wanted to do right by this job. As a result,  Yuuri was only able to get an hour or two of sleep and even then his slumber was restless and he probably would have been better off without it.

If Phichit noticed Yuuri’s nervousness and exhaustion the next morning as they were getting ready to leave for the first teacher work day he didn’t mention anything, instead he silently handed Yuuri a closed thermos filled to the brim with hot coffee. Yuuri wanted to hug the man when the first wave of caffeine induced energy started to flow through his veins.

“Remind me to show you where the good pot is kept after the yearly ‘welcome back to another year of madness’ meeting is over. You look like you're having a three-cup and a shot of espresso kind of day.” Phichit said light heartedly. Yuuri hummed affirmatively into his mug in response, taking a nice long sip of the nearly scalding liquid. “Dude I can’t tell you how great it is that we’ll be working in the same school again! It’ll be just like when we were in our broke bushy-tailed student teaching days.”

 “I don’t know about you but I’m still pretty broke.” Yuuri retorted.

 “Yeah me too. Ok then we’re still broke but we’re broke _adults_ now.” Phichit qualified his previous remark.

 “I don’t know if that’s any better.” Yuuri responded, swirling his coffee around in his thermos mug frowning when he realized it was already almost half gone. If he didn’t pace himself he would need a refill before the first faculty meeting even started.

 “Well I don’t know about you Yuuri but I’ve never really been in it for the money, you know? If I wanted fame and fortune I would have stuck with figure skating. Honestly, skating probably would have been the easier career choice.” Phichit said, the tone in the car shifting to something a little more serious but yet still tinged with the excitement of a new year.

Yuuri remembered the days well when he and Phichit would train hours upon hours on end in the bright sleek training facility in Detroit but he also remember more recent days when he and Phichit would be up until the early hours of the morning grading papers, working on lesson plans and looking through material that needed to be taught. Yuuri agreed with Phichit that both careers commanded hard work and while he did once have a passion for the ice he found that his passion for history and teaching is where his heart called after he realized that his career on the ice would be a short lived one. Even still, Yuuri wouldn’t trade being a teacher for the world.

The remaining commute to the school didn’t take all that long. When they arrived he and Phichit split ways promising to meet up again as soon as they could. With a little direction from Phichit, he made his way from the faculty parking lot to the main office where he was told he should pick up his new faculty kit, complete with his freshly made Jefferson County Schools faculty ID, an information packet, and a set of keys to his classroom and the history department’s storage closet where the school owned materials were held.

He walked in the general direction of his classroom, arms full with his work bag and the stack of papers he had just acquired, hoping that he would find the room without too much trouble. Luckily his classroom just so happened to be just around the corner in the wing adjacent to the hall where the main office was located. Yuuri fumbled a little between his bag, his mug and all the papers resulting in him dropping his keys on the cold linoleum tiles.

“Let me help you with that.” A cheery voice offered from behind him, a hand reaching out to scoop the keys that were now laying on the floor. Yuuri jumped at the sudden appearance of the voice and spun on his heel only to nearly collide into the stranger. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you.” The cheery bearded man in front of Yuuri apologized.

 “It’s alright, you surprised me is all.” Yuuri explained understandingly as the man leaned over and swiftly unlocked the door while Yuuri’s hands were still occupied. Once unlocked, His colleague pushed the door open with a wide infectious smile.

 “There you are! I’m Emil by the way, I’m just next door if you ever need me. You’re the new history teacher they hired, yes?” He asked, his words flying almost faster than Yuuri could comprehend with how little sleep he’s gotten.

 “Yes?” He replied hesitantly before clearing his throat and trying again. “Yes.” He said with a little more conviction this time.

 “Excellent! Have you met with Lilia yet? I’m sure she’ll want to get you up to speed on department specific things as soon as possible.” Emil explained.

 “N-no I just arrived. I haven’t had the chance yet. Should I -?” Yuuri began to question wondering if he had just pissed off his department head before he even met her.

 “Sooner rather than later would be best. She tough that one, best to stay on her good side.” He suggested cheerfully with a playful wink. As cheerful as this man is, Yuuri is beginning to wonder if he will get on so well with the woman he would call his department head, especially after Emil’s friendly albeit cautionary words.

 Needless to say catching up with Lilia was next on Yuuri’s checklist.  

 Yuuri said his goodbyes to his coworker and hastily settled into his classroom before setting out on his quest. He didn’t end up finding Lilia until just before the faculty meeting was about to start.

She was a hard looking woman with piercing critical eyes. She stared at Yuuri for the longest time, appraising him, seemingly judging his worth with a raised perfectly curved eyebrow. Whatever she saw in Yuuri seemed to satisfy her and she waved at him dismissively.

 “You’ll do.” She said with a disinterested coldness. “I’ll warn you now and I’ll warn you once: I expect nothing less than perfection from my department. I pray for your sake that you can deliver.” She warned. Yuuri fought the shiver that threatened to run down his spine at the intensity of the woman’s words. Yuuri realized in that moment that Emil wasn’t kidding when he warned him how tough this woman was.

If his job wasn’t at stake he might have half a mind to be downright terrified of this woman but instead Yuuri felt a surge of determination and was overcome with a feeling of being fully prepared to deliver on this woman’s expectations of him. If she commanded perfection, Yuuri would try his very hardest to satisfy her high expectations.

“Now that is one terrifying woman.” Phichit said coming up behind Yuuri and placing his hand over his shoulder after Lilia had walked away to talk with another group of teachers that called her attention.

"I think intense might be a better description.” Yuuri argued. He wasn’t exactly fearful of Lilia, just fearful of how she might react in response to failure on his part.

“You know she and Yakov were married once.” Phichit offered conversationally. Yuuri couldn’t help but to look between the two who stood on complete opposite sides of the room from one another. Whatever imaginary connection he was looking for, he never found it.

“ _Really?_ ” Yuuri asked incredulously.

“Oh _yeah_ . They got divorced a couple of years ago. I thought one of them would leave after the divorce but I think they’re both too stubborn for that.” Phichit gossiped. Sometimes Yuuri thought Phichit was worse than the children they teach when he gossiped but then again Yuuri _was_ listening intently to the new insight into his boss' personal lives.

“Isn’t there a rule against relationships in the workplace?” Yuuri wondered out loud. Not that it ever really applied to him but the last school that Yuuri worked at had a strict non-fraternization policy that forbid any sort of coworker romance. Maybe that was just another thing that was different about this school.

“If there is it’s not enforced. Yakov doesn’t care what we do in our personal lives as long as it doesn’t effect our work. He’s laid back in that respect at least.” Phichit said. Yuuri almost had to laugh. In the short time that he’s known the intimidating older man ‘laid back’ is not a descriptor that would ever come to mind. ”Come on, we should probably go sit down before Yakov takes our heads off for ‘loitering’” Phichit said using air quotes.

Yuuri and Phichit made their way over to the closest pair of empty chairs and chatted aimlessly until the faculty meeting was called to a start. The room fell into a respectful silence as Yakov stepped up to the podium and began to speak about the changes coming in the new year, all the standard policies and everything one needed to know about the start of a new year. After everything was all said and done, some of Yuuri’s colleagues immediately left to go do their work but most decided to hang around and socialize for a bit over each other’s summers.

“Are you hungry? A bunch of us are going to take our lunch break now.” Phichit said. Yuuri peeked at his phone to see the time was nearing noon. Yuuri had to admit he was starting to get hungry but he planned to take his lunch back to his room and work on lesson plans and other tasks he needed to get done before the students arrived.

“You go ahead without me.” Yuuri encouraged. “I’m going to take a working lunch today.” He continued on to explain. Phichit hooked his arm through Yuuri’s, rooting him from making his escape.

“ _Yuuri_ it’s only the first workday. Not one day in and you're already buried in your work! Take a break, socialize.” Phichit complained.

“Phichit, I have a lot of work to do.” Yuuri protested trying to slip out of Phichit’s surprisingly iron tight hold.

“Yeah, yeah, so do I but I’m hungry and I want you to meet some people. Come on, a lunch break won’t kill you.” Phichit pleaded, tugging lightly as Yuuri's sleeve. 

“Fine.” Yuuri sighed, finally relenting. He figured one lunch wouldn’t hurt. He could always insist on working tomorrow to catch up on whatever lost time he’s losing out on.

Phichit’s whole demeanor brightened, his face lighting up brilliantly at his victory. He unhooked their arms and pulled Yuuri by the wrist towards the doors leading out of the auditorium. Phichit then led Yuuri through a series of hallways, stopping briefly at Yuuri’s classroom to pick up the lunch he had brought and continued onward until they found themselves Phichit supplied as the foreign languages hall.

From down the hall Yuuri could hear talking and laughter that grew closer as they approached their intended destination. The noise was coming from one of the two french classrooms. Stepping through the doorway, Yuuri saw a group of teachers seated in a semicircle around the standard school-issued desk eating their respective lunches.

“Hey guys! Hope you didn’t start the party without us.” Phichit greeted as he walked into the room in front of Yuuri. Phichit pulled up a couple of chairs and settled them in the empty space around the desk, leaving enough space for another chair to easily be able to slide in.

“I wouldn’t dream of it. Who’s your friend?” Chris asked, his voice full of curiosity and playfulness. Yuuri extended his hand out to him in greeting.

“Yuuri Katsuki. I’m the new history teacher.” Yuuri introduced himself. Chris raised an eyebrow and smiled knowingly.

“Oh? Well you’re certainly cuter than old man Nikolai, probably more agreeable too.” Chris commented. “The students are just going to eat you up.” He concluded with a grin. The red haired woman sitted next to him reached across and punched him in the shoulder.

“Ow!” He exclaimed, chuckling at the reaction he got from the woman. Chris rubbed his shoulder where she had punched him to play up his supposed ‘injury’.

“Play nice, Chris. At least give the man the chance to unpack before you attempt to devour him whole, you incorrigible flirt.” The woman scolded before turning to Yuuri and extended a well manicured hand out in greeting. “Mila Babicheva. I’m the school’s librarian. Please pay no mind to Chris. He’s harmless.” She said warmly as Yuuri politely shook her hand.

“It’s nice to meet you all.” Yuuri said politely.

“Where’s Victor?” Phichit asked, popping a grape from his lunch into his mouth. Chris only shrugged in response and waved his hand in the air dismissively.

“Something about going over state-wide curriculum changes over lunch with the English department. If you ask me that man works himself too hard. I’m beginning to think he doesn’t know the meaning of the word ‘chill’.” Chris answered.

“That sounds like Victor.” Phichit sighed, sounding disappointed that this ‘Victor’ wouldn’t be joining them for lunch. Yuuri had heard all of these people’s names in passing when he and Phichit were chatting about each other’s day but in reality he knew very little about his new colleagues, Victor included.

“Just wait until you meet Victor, Yuuri. He’ll positively _adore_ you. He’s a bit of a history nerd himself, that one.” Chris said with a wink directed Yuuri’s way. Yuuri finds himself having no idea how to take that but brushes it off as the conversation moves on, the spotlight thankfully shifting away from him. The rest of their lunch break is filled with lively conversation accented by the sounds of laughter and light hearted ribbing.

In his last school Yuuri had never gotten all that close to his colleagues, preferring instead to keep his head down and do his job, but things felt different here. Sitting huddled around a cramped desk, Yuuri began to enjoy chatting with these near-strangers.  Somewhere between Phichit showing Mila a thousand pictures of his hamsters that he took over the summer and Mila playfully threatening to tell Chris’ boyfriend all of the embarrassing dirt she’s collected over the years if he didn’t quit scaring new teachers away, Yuuri found that he could picture this becoming his new normal.

  
For the first time since getting this new job, Yuuri felt himself beginning to relax into his new job. The nerves that had been sitting in the pit of his stomach in anticipation for today were quickly chased away by flutters of excitement for the year to come.


	4. Chapter 4

After a couple of days of teacher work days, Yuuri started to settle into his role in Jefferson High School. He meets new people almost everyday, started having lunch regularly with Phichit’s -  _ his _ new friends, but even after three days of work he’s yet to meet this elusive ‘Victor’ character that Phichit and Chris insisted that he would get along famously with. 

Call him crazy, but Yuuri’s beginning to think they’re making him up just to mess with him.

If they were, this was a really elaborate prank. On the first day after lunch Phichit pointed out a door just a couple of doors down from his own classroom, saying that’s where Victor’s room was. The name plaque below the room number reading ‘Victor Nikiforov’ corroborated Phichit’s story. Even still, Yuuri has never seen the mysterious man come or go but then again Yuuri was far too busy with his own work to really bother watching what happened in the hallway all that closely. The only times he left his classroom was when he was summoned into meetings with his department, or training sessions that the county required or when Phichit forcibly pulled him away to have lunch with him and the others. 

“It’s a real shame Victor’s been so busy this week.” Chris said over lunch. 

“I don’t know why you’re surprised. He’s always been the type to bury himself in his work.” Mila argued.

“You don’t say.” Phichit said, glancing over to give Yuuri a pointed accusatory look. His message was clear:  _ You’re guilty too _ .

After lunch Yuuri went back to work. He had a department meeting at one and by the time Lilia wrapped everything up it was two-thirty and the mid afternoon caffeine crash was hitting Yuuri hard. Deciding that he needed a little extra  _ umph  _ to get him through the rest of the day, Yuuri pushed himself from his desk, grabbed his favorite mug, and trudged down the hallway towards the holy grail of mid afternoon slumps. 

Yuuri tries not to drink coffee this late in the afternoon too often but some days the universe just doesn’t leave him any choice. He was still trying to get and  _ stay _ on Lilia’s good side. It probably wouldn’t reflect well on him if she found him dozing off on his desk. 

When Yuuri got to the teacher’s lounge he poured a generous amount of dark liquid happiness into his favorite ‘Still salty about the library of Alexandria’ mug that Phichit gave him as a graduation present.

Yuuri leaned against the counter and nursed his mug for a few blissful moments before making his way back towards his classroom. There was no time to waste and the sooner he got back to his classroom the better. 

Yuuri’s phone buzzed in his pocket just as he was pushing himself away from the counter. With one hand he pulled it out to see that he had a new message from Phichit.

 

**_Phichit_ **

_ 1 new message _

 

_ ‘We’re going out this weekend.’ _

**_‘What if I had plans?’_ **

_ ‘We both know that’s not true.’ _

_ ‘ _ **_Where are we going?’_ **

_ ‘Out. Don’t worry about it.’ _

Yuuri was just about to type out a snarky response to Phichit when he turned the corner down the hallway and ran smack into a hard body. Yuuri stumbled backwards and his coffee spilled over the rim of the mug and splashed onto his shirt. Yuuri hissed and let out a string of expletives in his mother tongue when the scorching liquid seeped through his white shirt and burned at his skin. 

“I’m so sorry! I wasn’t watching where I was going. I didn’t hurt you did I?” A concerned accented voice asked, instinctively grabbing hold of Yuuri’s shoulders to prevent him from falling from the impact of the collision. 

“It’s fine. I’m fine.” Yuuri insisted dismissively with a hind of agitation in his voice. The man he ran into was still holding onto him even as the liquid cooled and clung to his skin. When the contact went on a few moments too long, Yuuri’s eyes shifted up to meet a pair burning frosty blue eyes.

The man whose touch still lingered on his shoulder was quite a bit taller than Yuuri. He had smooth stylish silver hair but despite the color he couldn’t have been more than thirty years old. His eyes are a captivating chilly blue that held a soft warmth in them. His features are sharp and striking but Yuuri found him impossibly inviting. This man is a man born of contradictions.

And Yuuri couldn’t look away. 

In a rational world Yuuri knew he should at least be a little bit peeved about the situation he found himself in but as soon as that wide infectious smile graced the man’s lips, every care in Yuuri’s world disappeared. 

“That’s good.” He said in his lilting accented voice. Yuuri felt just a tad bit embarrassed when he realized that he had been staring at this man for longer than necessary. The man’s eyes trailed trailed down to the the fresh coffee stain glaring on Yuuri’s chest. “I’m afraid your shirt is beyond saving.” 

Yuuri looked down at his shirt, completely forgetting for a brief moment that there was a stain to begin with had the stickiness of his shirt to his skin not brought him back to reality. Yuuri was no stranger to ‘accidents in the workplace’. He’s subbed for elementary classes often enough to know that you should always keep a spare change of clothes handy when you work around young kids. Unfortunately for Yuuri, he never expected a colleague to be the cause of an incurable accident and certainly not during a teacher workday where the chance for mishaps is deceivingly low. Needless to say, Yuuri is going to be stuck in this shirt the rest of the day. 

“I feel terrible. Can I at least offer you the spare shirt I keep in my office? Or maybe buy you lunch” He asked. Yuuri found his offer for a new shirt very appealing, the lunch not so much. For some reason the idea of spending any amount of extended time with this man was intimidating. 

“I’d like that - the shirt I mean!” Yuuri corrected himself.

“Excellent! Follow me!” He said excitedly, grabbing Yuuri by the hand and dragging him down the hall. The mystery man’s legs were significantly longer than Yuuri’s so he found himself stumbling a little behind him in the attempt to keep up. 

They passed Yuuri’s room and walked a few more doors down to the classroom that Phichit had pointed out that belonged to the mysterious Victor character. If this man was Victor, Yuuri felt more than mildly embarrassed at his lack of grace as his first impression. Yuuri still held out hope that this man was a fellow teacher that Victor shared the room with and he hadn’t completely and utterly embarrassed himself in front of the acquaintance he hasn’t even met yet. 

He led Yuuri into the classroom and to the school issued desk that sat in a secluded corner in the room far removed from the door but still open to the rows of student desks. He pulled open a few drawers and started rifling through the contents of the desk, mumbling incoherently to himself in what sounded like another language to Yuuri. 

“I-I’m sorry I don’t think I caught your name.” Yuuri stuttered, shifting on his feet awkwardly as the silver haired man searched through the desk. He figured if he was about to take the shirt off this man’s back they should at least be on a first name basis, Phichit’s friend or not.  

“Where are my manners?” He stopped in his tracks, stood up straight, and touched his forehead at his forgetfulness. “Victor Nikiforov.”

“Yuuri Katsuki.” Yuuri replied. Victor reached back down and finally found what he was looking for. He pulled out a fresh white button up shirt (sans coffee) and handed it to Yuuri with a bright smile. The fabric underneath his fingertips was impeccably soft and felt more expensive than any shirt Yuuri owned. 

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Phichit’s told me a lot about you. Sorry again for bumping into you like that. I admit it’s not exactly the first impression I was going for.” Victor apologized, taking the words right out of Yuuri’s mouth. 

“No hard feelings, really.” Yuuri insisted. “I’ll uh - let you get back to your work. Thank you again.” Yuuri thanked, gesturing to the folded shirt now in his hands. Victor waved his hand in the air dismissively. 

“Sure thing. It was the least I could do. I’ve learned from experience that it’s best to always keep a plan B handy.” He said with casual wink. Yuuri chuckled awkwardly, not knowing how else to respond to Victor’s flirtatious demeanour. Yuuri didn’t put much weight behind the wink, figuring a man as beautiful as Victor probably flirted with everyone, even if he didn’t even realize that’s what he is doing. 

“Right. Too true.” Yuuri laughed. “Well . . . have a nice day Victor.” Yuuri said with a wave as he turned to leave. But before he could make his escape Victor called his name. 

“Yuuri?” Victor called. Yuuri stopped at the threshold of the classroom and looked back with a curious look. 

“I  _ love _ your mug.” Victor said gesturing to the now-empty mug, salty message on full display. Yuuri had almost forgotten he was even holding it. 

“Thanks.” Yuuri replied with a smile before making his mistake. As soon as the door to his own classroom was shut safely behind him, his face flared up in a furious blush. 

Victor Nikiforov was nothing like he expected. 


	5. Chapter 5

The last couple days of the teacher work week leading up to the start of the semester flew by and before Yuuri knew it it was time to make final preparations for the student’s arrival. Yuuri is admittedly a little nervous about finally beginning to _teach_ at his new school and his mind ran just a little wild thinking of all the possibilities. The rational part of him knows that it’s unlikely anything will go wrong but his irrational side conjured up nightmarish possibilities of scenarios ranging from students from hell to an inescapable barrage of technical difficulties with no solution. None of this helped in the least to settle Yuuri’s nerves.  

The one solace that he did have was that after their first disastrous encounter Yuuri started seeing Victor more throughout the day. Yuuri returned Victor’s shirt the day after even after Victor insisted that he keep it. Yuuri refused, the idea of having something that belonged to Victor sitting oddly on his mind. He returned the shirt to the silver haired man and in return agreed to tell him where Phichit bought the ‘Still salty about the library of Alexandria’ coffee mug. Victor seemed satisfied with that compromise. 

From that day on Yuuri and Victor tended to bump into each other multiple times throughout the day. Their classrooms were only a few doors down from each other so the fact that they often passed each other in the hall wasn’t all that strange of an idea but Yuuri still needed a moment or two to himself after chatting with the enchanting Russian English teacher.

The day before the first day of school was one that had nerves fluttering in Yuuri’s stomach. Yuuri wanted to do well with this job so that he could stay for hopefully many years to come. He was ready to prove that he could be a good teacher to these kids. Yuuri was just worried that, like with his last job, he wouldn’t get enough of a chance to prove his mettle.   

To take his mind off of thing (and partially to celebrate the start of the new school year) Phichit insisted on dragging Yuuri out to grab drinks and Thai food with their friends from work. Yuuri had almost forgotten that he agreed to go out with Phichit this weekend. 

“I hope you don’t mind but I invited a couple of people from work to come out with us this weekend.” Phichit warned as Yuuri was begrudgingly slipping into his coat and shoes. His hand froze on his zipper and he turned to Phichit with a wary look. 

Yuuri wasn’t entirely sure he was up to being surrounded by a lot of people tonight. Phichit had always been the social butterfly of the two. Yuuri on the other hand preferred to be with the few people he trusted and wasn’t keen on going to the overly large functions that Phichit liked to drag him to sometimes. 

“How many is a ‘couple’ of people?” Yuuri asked hesitantly.

“No one you haven’t already met.” Phichit reassured. “Just Chris, Mila and probably Sala from the front office.” Yuuri must have made a face because Phichit caught onto his social reluctance and dangled the one carrot that would for-sure get Yuuri out of the house. 

“Victor will be there.” Phichit sang, as if it would make all the difference in the world. Yuuri hated to admit it but deep down it did. He liked talking to Victor. As unnerving and flustered as Victor made him, Yuuri was fascinated by the man of contradictions. It wasn’t that he hated the others, the complete opposite in fact, it’s just that Yuuri found any sort of social gathering completely draining regardless of whether he wanted to be there or not. For some reason Victor - in the little time that Yuuri’s known him - Yuuri found that Victor was just one of those rare people that didn’t drain his energy. Having Victor there should give Yuuri the spark he needed for the night of socialization ahead of him. 

“Fine.” Yuuri relented, grabbing the car keys as they both headed out the door. Phichit gave him a knowing look but otherwise didn’t comment on Yuuri’s change in willingness. 

When they arrived at the restaurant, everyone was already seated at the table except Victor. Yuuri’s heart sank in disappointment at the one empty chair glaring across from where he was seated. 

“Where’s Victor?” Phichit asked as they sat down and started looking at the menu, not that Phichit really needed to. This Thai restaurant was quote ‘close enough to the real thing’ for this area of the country and was satisfactory enough for Phichit that it became a regular favorite of theirs when they needed a quick bite and didn’t feel like cooking. 

“Victor’s called me and said he got caught up in interstate traffic but he should be here in a few minutes.” Chris said, subtly picking up on the way Yuuri listened just a  _ little _ more intently on what he had to say about Victor’s whereabouts. Chris smirked to himself as he appraised the drink selection. “I don’t know about you but I’m in the mood for something strong tonight.” 

“I’m down. I think they serve Mekhong* here. Yuuri?” Phichit said, handing the drink menu to Yuuri. Yuuri waved it away.   

“I’ll pass tonight.” Yuuri refused. Yuuri didn’t exactly have the strongest tolerance for alcohol. He certainly didn’t need this night to end with him being drunk on Phichit’s favorite Thai booze. Besides, someone was going to need to be able to drive them back home. 

Their waiter took their drink orders, giving them another couple of minutes to look over the menu and wait for their last party member to arrive. The group quickly settled into a comfortable conversation with Yuuri only contributing a sparse comment here and there. He was just as happy listening to their lively conversation anyway. 

When Yuuri spots Vitor walking into the restaurant him whole demeanor brightens and whatever fascinating story Chris was in the middle of telling faded away. 

“Ah Victor! Always coming late I see? I was just telling Yuuri the story about the Brazilian underwear model and the pool.” Chris drawled, noticing he no longer commanded the table’s attention. Victor let out a short laugh and shook his head in disbelief.    

“That story gets more and more unbelievable each time you tell it.” Victor accused, draping his jacket across the back of his chair. “Sorry I’m late. I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long.” He apologized, his cerulean eyes connecting with Yuuri’s from across the table. 

“We actually haven’t even ordered yet.” Yuuri spoke up. Victor smiled pleasantly and settled into his chair across from Yuuri.  

“I arrived just in time then.” Victor said enthusiastically. 

The waiter came by to take the group's order shortly after Victor had settled into the table, ordering a glass of lemon water. Phichit knew what to order even before walking into the restaurant and Yuuri just ordered his usual go to dish. Much to Yuuri’s surprise, Victor deferred to Yuuri’s judgement when it came time for him to order. 

Phichit and Chris exchanged a knowing look across the table that went unnoticed by both Yuuri and Victor. 

After everyone’s orders were taken the disappeared and conversations started back up again. Victor turned to Yuuri and resting his chin on his hand, giving Yuuri his undivided attention. Yuuri’s attention was elsewhere as Chris got back into his scandalous story about the Brazilian model.  

“So Yuuri . . .” Victor starts, completely startling Yuuri at the sound of his name leaving the Russian’s lips. “I realized that I know next to nothing about you other than we have the same taste in coffee mugs. Tell me about yourself, Yuuri.” Victor prompts resting his chin in his hand as he intently awaited Yuuri’s answer. 

“What do you want to know?” Yuuri asked, shifting under the man’s intense gaze. Victor brought his index finger to his lips in thought for a few moments before he settled on the question he wanted to ask first. 

“Tell me, where are you from?” Victor asked. 

“I was born in Japan.” Yuuri answered. 

“Really? I thought you were American! I must admit I’m jealous now. I’ve been in this country for more than fifteen years and I still can’t shake the last of my accent. You _have_ to tell me your secret.” Victor insisted enthusiastically. 

“I don’t know . . . Lots of studying I guess?” Yuuri said. “When I came to America my coach had an English tutor on staff that I was required to use.” Yuuri continued to explain. Victor’s eyebrow quirked curiously. 

“Your coach?” Victor asked. 

“I moved to Detroit as a teenager so that I could train with a top notch figure skating coach. I had to learn English for interviews but also because it’s not easy living in a foreign country with a language barrier holding you back. I remember those first few months were terrifying and all I wanted was to go back home. I’m glad I stayed though.” Yuuri admitted. Victor’s eyes softened with a look of familiarity, perhaps remembering his own past as a young immigrant. 

 “I understand that feeling completely.” Victor sympathized. “You must have been an amazing skater if you moved halfway across the world to train.” Victor complimented. Yuuri flushed slightly and shook his head. 

“Not really no. I-it didn’t work out.” Yuuri explained, shifting his gaze to study the grain of the wooden table.

“Oh? Did something happen?” Victor asked. “If you don’t mind my asking, that is.” He qualified, not wanting to force Yuuri to recount something that made him uncomfortable.  

“I’m sorry I don’t really want to talk about it.” Yuuri said, tearing nervously at the paper napkin in his lap. The end of his skating days was not a memory he liked to bring back to the surface too often, especially not when he’s exposed in such a public place. Victor picked up on Yuuri’s discomfort and immediately felt terrible for even bringing it up. 

“I’ve offended you. My apologies.” Victor apologized. 

“No! It’s not that! It’s just . . . it’s not really casual dinner conversation material.” Yuuri corrected, not wanting Victor to think that he had made Yuuri feel uncomfortable in any way. Yes Yuuri was uncomfortable but that was more due to his own past shame than anything Victor said. 

“Another time then?” Victor offered hopefully while casually taking a sip from his water. 

“Sure. Besides, it’s a pretty boring story anyway.” Yuuri shrugged. 

“I seriously doubt that.” Victor said without missing a beat. Yuuri thought he must have misheard him. 

“Pardon?” Yuuri asked. 

“I doubt any story you have to tell could be boring.” Victor repeated. “You’re an intriguing person, Yuuri. Your eyes sparkle with an untold story, a story I would very much like to unfold layer by layer until there is no words left unspoken.” Victor said, his voice dropping to a level that implied a degree of intimacy. It was just him and Yuuri here in the restaurant and no one could tear them away from their only little bubble . . . except for Yuuri himself.  

“Thank you?” Yuuri said, the words coming out like a question. He was very much unsure what Victor’s poetic words were even supposed to mean. Was he saying that he wanted to be closer as friends? As something more? 

No, that’s ridiculous. 

 Victor’s an English teacher. It’s his job to be able to pull lace trimmed words out of a hat. For all Yuuri knew he was probably making an obscure reference to a novel that he never had the chance to read. No need to read more into this than was necessary. 

They’re friends and Yuuri’s completely fine with that. 

By the end of the night Victor and Yuuri are completely engrossed in their conversation as are Mila and Sala, leaving Phichit and Chris quiety gossiping in their own little corner of the table, completely oblivious to the other couples. 

“Phichit, are you a betting man?” Chris asks, eyeing the way Victor and Yuuri are subconsciouly leaning into each other from across the table. 

“Depends. What are we betting on?” Phichit asked. Chris shifts his gaze, gives Phichit a mischievous smirk, and points in the direction of where Yuuri and Victor are leaning forward completely engrossed in one another’s presence. 

“When _that_ ship sets sail.” He explained. Phichit snickered quietly, hiding his laughter behind his hand.  

“Fifty says two months.” Phichit wagered. 

“Why Mr. Chulanot! I think you underestimate Victor’s level of patience. I give no more than three weeks before Victor comes in wooing Yuuri with flowers and chocolates.” Chris countered. 

“I think you don’t realize how stubborn Yuuri can be.” Phichit shot back. 

“So do we have a bet?” Chris asked extending his hand to seal the deal. Phichit grinned and took a firm hold of Chris’ hand.

“You’re on.” Phichit challenged.


	6. Chapter 6

The first day of classes came and so did the nervous flutters in Yuuri’s stomach. He and Phichit got ready as if it were any other workday with the exception that Yuuri tripple checked and checked again to see if he had everything he needed. Eventually Phichit just had to shove Yuuri out the door by force, otherwise they would be late. 

Yuuri and Phichit pulled into the parking lot a little under two hours before the first bell of the day just to make sure (by Yuuri’s insistence) that they had everything in order for when the students arrive. Yuuri still had a few tasks he needed to complete before the students arrived so he wanted to get those things out of the way as soon as possible.  

First things first, Yuuri needed to print off copies of his syllabus before all of the other teachers arrived wanting to do the same thing. Yuuri dropped off his bag in his classroom, briefly taking notice that Victor’s room was still dark before logging into his classroom’s computer and sending the document to the printer down the hall. Without ever taking a moment to sit down Yuuri walked back out of his classroom and printed off enough copies for the amount of students on his roll. 

A soon as Yuuri set down the still warm stack of papers on his desk he was already off to complete his next task: textbooks. Yuuri’s first class of the day is his American History class and he had completely forgotten last week to haul the textbooks he needed to hand out to the students from the storage closet. 

Yuuri walked down the hall to the history department’s storage closet where they stored all the textbooks and classroom materials for everyone in the department to use. Yuuri had only ever briefly glanced in this room before so he hoped to whatever teaching gods there were that there would be enough textbooks for each of his classes. Yuuri unlocked the door and flipped on the lights to thankfully find that the shelve were crammed full of textbooks and there were more than enough of the American History textbooks for his all of his classes. There was that at least. 

Yuuri rolled up the sleeves of his button up shirt and lifted a towering stack of the books to bring them back to his classroom. Yuuri grunted as his arms strained at the weight of the books. Yuuri thought sarcastically that he could probably skip his nonexistent workout today. 

“Woah there Yuuri!” Victor’s voice called as he ran up to Yuuri from down the hall. “Teaching may be a thankless job but there’s no need to break your back for it. Here let me help you with that.” Victor offered, taking half of the stack in Yuuri’s hands into his own arms. 

“Thanks.” Yuuri said gratefully, his arms feeling immensely less strained than before. Victor helped Yuuri carry the textbooks back to the classroom as well as helped him bring the rest of the text books back to his classroom. After a few trips Victor and Yuuri transported all the textbooks that Yuuri needed. 

“That’s all of the ones I need I think.” Yuuri said as he appraised the stacks of textbooks on his desk. “Thank you again, Victor.” Yuuri thanked. Victor gave him a warm smile and a soft pat on the back. 

“Anytime, Yuuri.” Victor said with a wink before heading back to his room to prepare for his own classes. 

With all the heavy lifting now done, Yuuri went on to double check that he had everything he needed and that everything was set up the way he needed it. By the time he was satisfied that he was fully prepared for the day, the halls started to fill with students. Some of them were grumbling about their summer ending, some (the freshman) looking lost and overwhelmed, and many more excited to see their friends after a long summer and eager to get the new year started. Yuuri’s first period students started to trickle in as the morning bell came closer to ringing. Yuuri introduced himself to a few of the students that showed up early and chatted, answering any questions they had up until the bell rang.

After the bell rang he gave the class a minute or two to settle in and to give lost students a chance to find their way. After Yuuri was satisfied that he could begin teaching without too much interruption he called his class’ attention by introducing himself and calling roll. Yuuri went through the typical first day syllabus type information. 

Overall his first class went very smoothly which eased the nerves he had been feeling. His following honors section of American History went just as well if not better than his first class. By the time lunch rolled around Yuuri was feeling more comfortable in his abilities and was ready for whatever the rest of the day had to throw at him. 

At around noon Phichit popped his head into Yuuri’s classroom waving a paper bag with a familiar takeout logo printed on the bag. The smells coming from that bag was pure heaven to Yuuri’s senses. 

“ _ Yuuuuuuuri.  _ I brought katsudon.” Phichit sang as he set the bag down on Yuuri’s desk. Without waiting for a response from Yuuri he pulled out the containers and pulled up a chair to Yuuri’s desk. Yuuri opened his container and reveled in the smell that reminded him of home. No katsudon he had here in America could ever compare to his mother's but the dish did manage to bring him comfort whenever he’s feeling homesick. 

“So how’s the first day treating you?” Phichit asked breaking apart the disposable bamboo chopsticks that came in the bag and dug into the sushi he ordered for himself.

“Well I’m alive and I didn’t send any kids running and screaming.” Yuuri replied sarcastically.

“That’s the spirit! To be honest I thought you would be spending lunch with  _ Victor _ .” Phichit said teasingly. Yuuri felt his face flush and he suddenly became infinitely more interested in his food. 

“Why would you think that?” Yuuri asked, pushing a strip of fried pork around the edge of the container before picking it up with his chop stick and slowly nibbled on it.  

“You know you and Victor were kind of chummy last night at dinner.” Phichit said, the light teasing tone still present in his voice. Make no mistake, Yuuri knew  _ exactly _ what was going on in Phichit’s mind but that didn’t make it true. He and Victor were just friends, if even that. 

“We were chatting, Phichit. Victor was just being nice. That’s all.” Yuuri rationalized. Phichit opened his mouth as if he were going to say something but decided against it and popped a sushi roll into his mouth instead. 

“Sure . . .” Phichit said, clearly unconvinced. Yuri was about to reiterate that there was nothing between him and Victor when the man of subject himself knocked on Yuuri’s door and popped his head in. Victor hesitated at the threshold of Yuuri’s door, unsure if he was intruding or not. 

“Yuuri! I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind me eating with you today. I wanted to go over a few things for one of my classes but I can see you already have company.” Victor said apologetically, still hovering hesitantly at the door. 

“Nonsense Victor! The more the merrier!” Phichit encourages, waving Victor towards them.

“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to impose.” Victor said. Before Yuuri could get in a word in edgewise Phichit once again ushered for Victor to join them. 

“Believe me, you’re not imposing at all.” Phichit reassured Victor all the while giving Yuuri a subtle but pointed look. 

‘ _ Just friends _ .’ Yuuri had to remind himself.  _ ‘We’re professional work acquaintances and that’s it.’ _

Now sure that he wasn’t bothering Phichit and Yuuri’s lunch Victor fully entered Yuuri’s classroom and pulled up a chair next to Yuuri. 

_ ‘Wow he’s really close’ _ Yuuri thought to himself. But it wasn’t necessarily in a bad ‘you’re invading my bubble’ kind of way and more of a ‘Shit his cologne smells really good, I wonder where he buys it’ kind of way.

“So what was the thing you needed to talk about?” Yuuri asked, trying to distract himself from wondering about the origin of his colleague’s cologne. Victor was more than happy to oblige. 

“I wanted your input on-” Victor started to explain before Phichit cut him off with a sharp poke to his arm. 

“Nope. You two stop that. No work during lunch. It’s only the first day for the love of god! Save it for your planning period you two!” Phichit said. The intent behind his words was to put an end to talk about work but Yuuri took that as an invitation to actually schedule a meeting with Victor.

“Next period is my time for planning if you’re free?” Yuuri suggested. Victor’s ever present smile grew before quickly falling at some internal realization. 

“I have planning next too but I need to meet up with the rest of my department to hash out some upcoming curriculum changes but tomorrow  _ da _ ?” Victor suggested. 

“Sure.” Yuuri nodded. Yuuri was pleased and just a bit terrified at the realization that they would be spending an extended period of time alone together but was comforted by the fact that their conversation would be strictly work related. There’s absolutely nothing wrong about consulting with fellow co workers.

“Thank you Yuuri! You’re a life saver!” Victor proclaimed gratefully. 

Phichit silently watched the exchange between the two with a knowing look, his playful bet with Chris at the forefront of his mind. If today’s lunch and Victor and Yuuri’s impending work ‘date’ was any indication neither of them was going win the bet. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor and Yuuri have their first 'work date' and we finally get to see Teacher!Yuuri ya know . . . teach. Also Yurio decides not to skip class today.

The next day Victor and Yuuri meet up in Victor’s classroom like they agreed the day before. When he entered Victor’s classroom he realized that this was really the first time he got a good look at the room. The last time he was in this room he had a hot coffee stain clinging to his chest and was more than a little frazzled to really take in any of his surroundings. Now that he was considerably less flustered, Yuuri took notice of the way Victor had his classroom set up. 

The walls were mostly bare except for the occasional poster that displayed a variety of literary quotes from Poe to Tolstoy. Victor’s desk is set up in the back corner of the classroom facing the Smartboard at the front of the classroom. Since it was still the beginning of the year his desk was fairly clutter free. 

Perhaps too clutter free though. 

The only thing on his desk was his computer and an organizing tray for paperwork and assignments but the typical personal knick knacks and photographs were absent from this teacher’s desk. If Yuuri hadn’t known this was Victor’s classroom he might have mistaken this room as anyone else's. There wasn’t anything distinctly  _ Victor  _ about the classroom. 

Then again Yuuri didn’t really know Victor well enough to really know what  _ Victor _ looked like. Even still Yuuri found it odd that there was no tangible evidence of Victor having a personal life. Even Yuuri had a small framed photo of his family tucked away in just visible corner of his desk. 

“Yuuri! Thanks for meeting with me today!” Victor greeted cheerfully when he looked up to see Yuuri come into his room. Yuuri shifted the strap of his bag before fully stepping into the room. 

“It’s no problem at all. So what did you need help with?” Yuuri asked. 

“Well you see I’m teaching The Crucible in a few weeks. I think it would be beneficial for the students comprehension if I were to give them a quick crash course on the historical context before I start assigning reading.” Victor explained.

“I’m guessing that’s where I come in?” Yuuri asked. 

“Exactly! I’ve taught the book in years past but I’ve always felt something’s going over their heads. I think perhaps if the students are given a better background on McCarthyism and the political climate that the play was written in, the work might have a better impact on the kids. I thought perhaps you might be able to give me a fresh perspective and guide me on giving a proper history lesson to my kids. What do you say Yuuri? Think you can help me?” Victor asked.  

  
“Of course.” Yuuri agreed with a nod. 

McCarthyism. It’s a subject Yuuri knew enough about to teach and luckily it was included in his education while he was studying to become a history teacher. The general premise of the movement was categorized by fear. Fear of one’s neighbors, fear of strangers, fear of different ways of life. The 1950s had seen an all out witch hunt on Soviet agents by the American government but in reality many innocent people were hurt and got deported at best because of it. It certainly has parallels to the infamous Salem Witch Trials that the play was based on but Yuuri supposed that was rather the point of the whole play to begin with. 

Yuuri talked Victor through the history of the era. There was a lot that Yuuri didn’t need to explain since teaching a Russian man about Russian-centric history was like telling the sky that it’s blue but Victor seemed to find Yuuri’s more American perspective very helpful. Victor listened to Yuuri’s explanation very intently and took careful notes on points of discussion that he had never considered thinking about. Every once and awhile Victor would ask Yuuri a question or try to clarify an awkward point 

“Thank you for this Yuuri. Talking with you has been an enlightening experience to say the least. Growing up in Russia, I learned about the Cold War a bit differently than America teaches it so I suppose it’s only natural that my teaching method was a bit off. What you’ve told me today should be a great help.” Victor said with an air of gratefulness. 

“It was my pleasure.” Yuuri said. 

“So I’m curious . . . Why come to America Yuuri?” Victor asked, bridging the gap between professionalism and casual conversation. “I know you said you came here to train but why so far from home?”

“I could probably ask you the same thing.” Yuuri pointed out. 

“Touche.” Victor laughed. 

“Hasetsu is great, don’t get me wrong, but the family business didn’t really interest me. I love my parents but I never wanted to own the inn. When Coach Celestino discovered me at a qualifying competition in Fukuoka and offered me a place in his rink in Detroit I was so happy. I wanted it  _ so _ bad. I begged my parents for months to let me go. After a while they were managed to scrape enough money together to let me chase after my dreams in America.” Yuuri said. He remembered how his mom teared up and held him in a bone crushing hug as his flight to America was being called for boarding. 

As much as Yuuri’s mother didn’t want to let go of her baby boy there was a part of Yuuri that didn’t want to go. It would have been easier to stay in Japan. He would have gone to school and one day taken over the onsen when his parents retired. His life would have turned out so much differently had he stayed but Yuuri knew even back then that he would never be content on staying. 

“You must have missed your family terrible. You were just a boy when you immigrated right?” Victor asked. 

“I was fifteen at the time. I admit I was terribly homesick for a while until I met Phichit. Phichit’s actually the one who encouraged me to stay in America after I decided to quit and finish my studies. I probably would have gone back to Japan a long time ago if it wasn’t for him.” Yuuri explained. Victor’s comfortable smile fell for a fraction of a second before it was back in place, perhaps a bit more strained than before. 

“Oh so you and Phichit are .  .?” Victor trailed off, a small crease appearing between his eyebrows. It took Yuuri a moment before he realized what Victor was suggesting. Yuuri blushed and shook his head vehemently.

“No! It’s not like that! We’re just roommates!” Yuuri insisted, his voice hitching awkwardly. It wasn’t like he hadn't thought about being with Phichit, if only out of morbid curiosity but they truly were just roommates and best friends. It was still more than a little embarrassing that Victor could see right through the professional shield he put up. 

Yuuri couldn’t help but to revel in the way Victor’s eyes lit up ever so slightly at the realization that no romance existed between the long time roommates. The reaction might be wishful thinking on Yuuri’s part but he liked to think that it was there. 

“Alright then. So how did you meet Phichit anyway?” Victor asked.

“We trained in the same rink together while I was in Detroit. He had just moved from Thailand when I got there so we were both going through a lot of the same problems. Phichit’s really the only person from that part of my life that I kept in touch with after I retired. He’s always been there for me when I needed him most.” Yuuri said with a sad smile. Phichit through thick and thin had always been there for Yuuri. He’d probably never be able to fully repay Phichit for all the kindness he’s shown Yuuri throughout the years. 

“You two must be very close.” Victor commented. 

“He’s my best friend. Sometimes I don’t know what I would ever do without him.” Yuuri agreed. Victor smiled sadly and drew slow circles on his notes.  

“I admit I’m jealous of you in a way.” Victor confessed. 

“Why would you be jealous of me?” Yuuri wondered. 

“You are fortunate to have someone like Phichit in your life.” Victor replied vaguely. Before Yuuri could ask for any clarification the shrill bell tolling the end of the period cut through the almost intimate atmosphere that had somehow built up around them.

“Well I guess that’s our cue.” Victor said. 

“Right.” Yuuri agreed getting up from the seat and collecting his papers that rested on Victor’s desk. Before he turned to leave Yuuri spoke hesitantly. “Sorry for giving you my life story. I’m sure you had better things to be doing.”

“Nonsense.” Victor waved dismissively. “I enjoy talking to you Yuuri. I learn something new about you everyday.” 

“Thank you.” Yuuri said with a blush creeping to his cheeks. Why must his body choose the most inconvenient times to act like a blushing schoolgirl? 

“Well I won’t monopolize your attention any longer Yuuri. I hope you have an amazing day!” Victor wished cheerfully. 

“You too Victor!” Yuuri waved back at Victor as he stepped through the threshold. 

The halls were filled with students as they all made their way to their last class of the day. A couple of Yuuri’s more attentive World History students were already waiting patiently by Yuuri’s classroom, waiting for him to unlock the door. 

“Sorry to keep you waiting guys.” Yuuri apologized as he pushed open the door and flipped on the lights. 

“It’s alright Mr. Katsuki!” A pleasant student by the name of Samantha said. 

The students took their seats and idly scrolled through their phones while they waited for class to start. Yuuri’s cell phone policy was fairly relaxed compared to older teachers. He didn’t care if students used it before or after class but asked that they be away while he was teaching. Yuuri had been known to confiscate phones in the past of the chronic abusers of his policy. He didn’t like doing it but sometimes certain distracted students needed that extra step. These students though had been fairly respectful so far.

Yuuri set his things back down on his desk and powered on the Smartboard for today’s lesson. Those things always took a few minutes to warm up so better to do it now than before class starts. 

“Are we starting lessons today?” Samantha inquired as she watched Yuuri pull up his powerpoint. The day before had been dedicated to going over the syllabus and classroom policies so the question wasn’t unwarranted.

“We are. We’ll be covering about thirty thousand years of history today.” Yuuri said. His World History class covered the beginning of humanity all the way through modern age. It seemed like a lot, sure, but early human history only filled one class period and he would be well onto covering ancient river civilizations by tomorrow.

“That seems like a lot.” She said skeptically.

“Most of it is theory and speculation. Don’t worry, we’ll go over everything you need to know and I’ll be more than happy to answer any questions you have after class.” Yuuri reassured her. The student nodded and dug into her backpack to pull out her notebook and her brightly colored neon pen. 

Slowly Yuuri’s students trickled in and took their seats. Yuuri called his class to order a minute after the bell rang.

“Welcome back. I see I haven’t scared any of you off yet.” Yuuri joked which garnered a few chuckles from the students. “We’ll start today by calling roll and then we’ll jump straight into today’s lesson.” Yuuri explained.

Yuuri quickly went through his roll and everyone was present except for a Yuri Plisetsky, who was also absent the day before. Just as he called the last name Yuuri’s door opened unexpectedly. Yuuri looked up from his attendance log to see Principal Feltsman guide a student into the room.

“Let go of me you fucking geezer!” The boy growled shoving Yakov’s hold on him away. Yakov did not look impressed. 

“Please mark Mr. Plisetsky tardy, Mr. Katsuki.” Yakov directed. Yuuri nodded silently in response, erasing the absent mark he had in his log and changing it to a tardy. “As for you young man, I expect to see you in my office immediately after school.” He instructed firmly. Yuri ignored him and angrily slumped into a free desk in the back corner of the classroom. 

“I apologize for the interruption Mr. Katsuki. Please do continue.” Yakov directed as he took his leave. Yuuri blinked, still trying to process what had just happened but he supposed it was a matter between Yakov and Yuri.

“Right . . . Uh . . . So back to what we’re doing today.” Yuuri stuttered trying to get back into his teaching rhythm. “Right. Today we’ll be covering a large chunk of history in a short amount of time so just stick with me. Hopefully we’ll get through everything today but we can carryover into tomorrow if we need to.” Yuuri explained.

“Let’s go ahead and jump in then.” Yuuri said as he pulled his presentation into fullscreen mode. “In terms of this class human history begins in 30,000 BCE when the Cro-Magnums created the beginnings of ‘civilized’ society. At this point agriculture hadn’t yet been invented and neither had writing or even the wheel. What they  _ did  _ have was clothing, crude tools, and the basic knowledge of how to survive. We know all of this because of a combination of artifacts and the cave paintings that they left behind . . .”

Yuuri managed to get through all of the material that he needed to and even had some time left over to answer some more in depth questions that a few students had. Yuuri noticed however that Yuri Plisetsky paid little attention to what Yuuri had to say. He didn’t take notes, he didn’t participate at all in class, he didn’t even seem to notice the lesson at all, instead choosing to glare out the window beside his desk.

Yuuri meant to hold Yuri after class to have a quick discussion about paying better attention in class but a few seconds before the bell rang he shoved himself from his desk and stormed out of the room. The bell rang just as he passed the threshold. Yuuri sighed and resigned to put the discussion off until tomorrow. Knowing Yakov, the boy was probably going to get an earful later that day anyway. 

Yuuri stepped out of his classroom in the time between periods to fill his water bottle. When he walked back Victor was standing leaning against the crossroads of the hallways on hallway duty. 

“Hello Yuuri.” Victor greeted warmly.

“Hey Victor.” Yuuri greeted back.

“How did your classes treat you today?” Victor inquired. 

“Good. Though I think they’re still trying to feel what kind of teacher I am.” Yuuri said. Victor chuckled and patted Yuuri on the back.

“You better watch your back then! The children bite when you least expect it!” Victor laughed cheerfully. 

“Wonderful.” Yuuri grumbled. “Speaking of children that bite what do you know about Yuri Plisetsky?” Yuuri asked.

“He’s in one of your classes huh? He’s a good kid, he really is, but he needs a bit of an extra push to get him to reach his full potential. Be patient with him Yuuri, he’s going through a bit of rough patch right now.” Victor advised sympathetically. Yuuri nodded, taking Victor’s advice to heart. By that point the hallways had since cleared ushering a close to his conversation with Victor as they both now had remaining work to finish after school before they could leave for the day.

“Thanks Victor.” Yuuri said. “I have to go back to my classroom and work on a few things but I hope you have a good night.” Yuuri waved as he started to make his retreat back to his own classroom. 

“Have a wonderful night Yuuri!” Victor called with a wave before heading to his own room, presumably to work on things that Yuuri had distracted him from during his planning period earlier that day.

When Yuuri got back to his classroom he collapsed into his chair and let out a deep sigh that seemed to reverberate off the walls of his empty classroom.

Day two complete, albeit a bit rockier than the first.


	8. Chapter 8

“So . . . You and Victor huh?” Phichit asks on the drive to school the morning after Victor and Yuuri’s ‘work date’. Yuuri was caught off guard by the sudden question but he couldn’t deny that a part of him like the sound of ‘you and Victor’. 

He pushed that feeling aside, deciding that in no world or any sort of alternate universe would that ever happened. Victor, the enigmatic walking contradiction was far too out of his league for ‘you and Victor’ to ever become a reality.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Yuuri replied stubbornly. 

“You know, you and Victor. Yuuri and Victor. Victor and Yuuri. Victuuri. The unsinkable ship. The unbreakable teaching duo. The two most stubborn people to be soulmates ever. ” Phichit listed off, sounding exasperated. Yuuri rolled his eyes and shook his head. 

“There is no  _ me and Victor. _ We’re colleagues and that’s all there is to it.” Yuuri insisted. 

“What was all that about the other day then? Chris made it seem like you two had a scandalous moment together during your planning period.” Phichit said. Yuuri had to scoff at the implication that Chris was in any way a reliable source. 

“Nothing happened. You should know by now that Chris is a more of a gossip than the kids.” Yuuri insisted. 

“ _ Nothing  _ happened?” Phichit asked. 

“ _ Nothing.”  _ Yuuri repeated firmly. “I helped him with a lesson he was planning and we chatted a little bit. I really wish everyone wouldn’t blow this thing out of proportion. Victor and I are just friends.” Yuuri stated but looking over at Phichit in the driver’s seat he could tell that his friend wasn’t the least bit convinced but he thankfully dropped the subject. 

When they arrived at the school Yuuri and Phichit went their separate ways to their respective classrooms. Yuuri happened to pass by Victor’s room on the way to his own classroom and was surprised to see the lights on already. On a normal day Victor usually arrived later than he did. 

_ ‘He must have some work to catch up on. I better not bother him. _ ’ Yuuri reasoned to himself, walking past with the intention of going straight to his classroom and setting up for his own lessons but he heard his name being called as he walked past Victor’s room.

“Yuuri!” Victor called seeing the younger teacher walk past. Yuuri stopped and walked back towards Victor’s room and leaned against the metal door frame. 

“Morning Victor.” Yuuri greeted. Victor was sitting behind his desk nursing a cup of coffee whose logo revealed it to originate from a local shop nearby the school. His desk was clear and he had clearly only just arrived a few minutes before Yuuri did. 

“Yuuri, you  _ have _ to try this coffee! It’s heavenly!” Victor insisted excitedly holding out a second cup that had gone unnoticed by Yuuri. Yuuri stepped into the classroom and took the offered cup from the man and took a cautious sip, knowing it was useless to argue against Victor’s enthusiasm. Yuuri’s eyes shot open in surprise as soon as the liquid floated over his taste buds. 

Flavors of dark coffee mingled with swirls of rich chocolate all floating beneath a mist of refreshing mint that made both of the darker flavors somehow light. Yuuri wasn’t usually one for fancy over-thought coffee mixes but this was pure heaven. 

“Oh my god.” Yuuri’s eyes widened at the flavors that were lingering on his tongue. No amount of intelligent words could describe what he was tasting. He hadn’t ever tasted anything that bold but yet oddly refreshing before. 

“I know right! Isn’t it wonderful? I thought you might like it so I got you one too!” Victor agreed with a charming smile. Yuuri reflexively gripped the cup tighter as a heat that had nothing to do with the coffee he was drinking flooded his chest.  

“Thank you Victor, but you really shouldn’t have.” Yuuri said, feeling all warm and fuzzy that Victor thought of getting Yuuri something in the goal of pleasing him. 

“It was my pleasure, Yuuri. Besides I still needed to make up for the coffee I made you spill the first time we met.” Victor waved dismissively.

“I thought you already made it up to me by letting me borrow your shirt?” Yuuri reminded him.  

“Any decent human being would have done the same. I owed you coffee at the very least.” Victor shrugged. Yuuri bit the inside of his cheek. 

“Well thank you anyway. This coffee is seriously out of this world.” Yuuri thanked gratefully. 

“Isn’t it?” Victor replied cheerfully. 

“Well, I hope you have a great day Victor.” Yuuri said with a wave as he made his way back to the doorway, cup of liquid heaven in hand. 

“You as well Yuuri!” Victor called back. 

Yuuri walked to his classroom with a damn good coffee in his hand and a smile on his face. 

Yuuri’s morning passes by pretty uneventfully until Phichit comes to seal Yuuri away for lunch. Before even greeting Yuuri, Phichit’s eyes zeroed into the now-empty coffee cup on Yuuri’s desk.

“Wait. When did you go to Cup O’ Jo? I would have asked you to pick me up a cup of Oolong with one of their cute local honey straws!” Phichit pouted, lamenting at being denied this simple pleasure.

“I didn’t go. Victor gave it to me.” Yuuri explained.

“Victor bought you coffee?” Phichit asked, his voicing taking a scandalized tone. Yuuri recognized that tone. Phichit wanted details and Yuuri could already see his friend’s mind running wild with all the possibilities. Yuuri needed to put an end to this before Phichit started conjuring up color schemes for Yuuri’s wedding. 

“I’m going to stop you right there. It was  _ just  _ coffee.” Yuuri put his foot down. 

“Oh Yuuri. It’s never  _ just  _ coffee” Yuuri is tempted to write Phichit’s comment as him seeing things that clearly weren’t there but Yuuri wondered for a brief moment whether Victor was actually interested in him but immediately wrote it off. 

It was just a cup of coffee.

For the rest of lunch Phichit eyes Yuuri with a degree of calculation while he thinks Yuuri isn’t looking. They made small talk and chatted about each other’s day until the bell rang. Phichit had a third period art theory class that he had to scurry off to so he didn’t stick around long enough to grill Yuuri about his planning period ‘activities’ but Yuuri could tell the question was burning at the tip of his tongue. 

Yuuri took some time to set up the work he intended to finish during his free period until the hallways emptied of students. Once he heard the echoes of his fellow teachers’ lessons he took that as a sign that the hallways were now clear of foot traffic. With his work now prepped, Yuuri took this moment to grab the water bottle he kept hidden underneath his desk and make a quick trip to the water fountain down the hall for a refill. 

As Yuuri made his way down the hall his mind wandered absently. He always found empty halls eerie. It was quiet but you could still hear sounds of life echoing off the walls from the open classroom doors but as soon as the bell rang the halls flooded with bodies and sounds of laughter, slamming lockers and loud passing conversations. It was if those two hallways existed in completely different worlds.

For whatever reason the water pressure in the fountains on this side of the school was frustratingly weak so it took quite a while for Yuuri’s bottle to fill all the way to the top. While he was waiting he notices a flash of blonde hair and leopard print slip into the nearby bathroom. By the time his bottle was full the student in question carefully peered out the door to check if Yuuri was still there. Yuuri could only smirk at how obvious the student was being. 

Yuuri had to be blind not to notice Yuri trying - and failing - to hid from him. 

“I’ll see you in class, Mr. Plisetsky.” Yuuri said as he passed by the swinging bathroom door. Yuuri got a small amount of satisfaction when the door moved so that it was no longer cracked open with a sharp expletive coming from the teen’s mouth. 

He knew he should have reported the young teen who was clearly trying to skip class but the sound of pure fright when he realized that Yuuri knew he was there all along gave Yuuri the hope that he surprised him enough to have the good sense to go to back to class. 

Yuuri was pleasantly surprised when Yuri only showed up a minute late to Yuuri’s class. Yuuri handed him the worksheet for the day’s lesson as he passed by on his way to his seat. Yuuri gave the kid a friendly smile to show he felt no ill will and he wasn’t this kid’s enemy. Yuri only rolled his eyes in response before slumping in his seat like the day before, completely disinterested in what was going on. 

At least instead of looking out the window, Yuri was at least doodling on the worksheet he was meant to be working on. Victor’s cautioning words to be patient with him rang in his mind as the first of the students started to turn in the papers to Yuuri. When the bell rang Yuri stood up, walked to the front of the classroom, and handed Yuuri his paper. The answers were still blank but a doodle of a cat in the style of ancient egyptian tomb art was drawn over the printed questions. 

Baby steps. Yuuri could do baby steps. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm stepping away from my other blog for a little while . . . you might see this fic update more often since it's the only thing I feel like writing lately. Welp. Cheers! Hope y'all enjoy the chapter!

Life continued on as normal. Yuuri continued teaching his classes, Yuri continued to not pay attention in Yuuri’s class, and Victor continued to bring Yuuri different types of caffeinated drinks at least once a week, much to Phichit’s smug pleasure. Oddly enough this is Yuuri’s new normal. 

It’s been a little over a month since the school term started and lessons are well under way. By this point in the semester Yuuri is still on track for covering all the material before finals but in this part of the US the possibility for snow days is a real possibility to account for. Yuuri was determined to stay as on track as possible. 

For his world history class, Yuuri is already beginning to write his lesson plans on European Imperialism and the beginnings of democratic revolutions all over the world. Since this is a world history class he didn’t have to focus too much time on the American revolution. Although it was a major part of Yuuri’s American history class, most of the kids in his world history class were juniors and have been taught that material at least five times over by this point. He would go over the American revolution again briefly for a day or so before going other revolutions around the world. 

Instead the democratic revolution unit would put more emphasis on the French revolution and the smaller revolutions that followed soon after. Yuuri plans to end the unit by talking about the Russian revolution and the rise of communism against a mostly democratic world. 

While flipping through the textbook he was using to teach, Yuuri noticed that there was a substantial amount of material for the American and French revolutions but not as much as he would have liked on the Russian revolution, arguably one of the most important events that influenced the course of 20th century history. 

Well no one ever claimed that the state prescribed textbook is perfect. 

Unfortunately Yuuri’s own knowledge of the subject was a bit rusty so he knew he was going to need to do a bit of research on his own before writing his lesson plans. During his planning period one day Yuuri decides to do just that.

Yuuri sets aside his lesson plans for the moment to go on a quest for advice. The first place he thought to go to was the library, in hopes to find an alternative textbook. Maybe the AP books that were kept in the storage room in the library would have the material he needed. 

When he arrived at the library it was completely silent apart from the rapid taps of Mila typing at her computer and a few students sitting at the tables working on their online classes. 

“Hey Mila.” Yuuri whispered, leaning on the large elevated desk. He tried to keep his voice down as not to disturb the peace of a silent library. 

“Oh hello Yuuri.” Mila greeted softly, looking up from her computer screen. 

“You wouldn’t happen to know if there are any AP World History books in storage, would you?” Yuuri asked.

“No there aren’t, sorry. We haven’t had an AP World class in  _ years.  _ We actually just donated the last of the textbooks over the summer to the other high school across the district. Sorry Yuuri.” Mila said apologetically. 

“Damn.” Yuuri swore underneath his breath. “Thank you anyway.” Yuuri said. 

“What was it that you needed it for, out of curiosity?” Mila asked. 

“Oh, the textbook I’m using is surprisingly not great covering the Russian revolution content I need. I’m a bit too rusty to supplement it on my own and would feel a lot more comfortable if I referenced a source.” Yuuri explained. 

“Well why don’t you ask Victor?” Mila suggested. Yuuri looked at her in confusion. Why would he -

“Victor?” Yuuri asked. 

“Yeah he minored in Russian studies when he was in college. Kind of a cop out minor for him if you ask me but he should know more than enough to help you with what you need. He might even have a textbook or two from his old history classes to lend you.” Mila offered with a casual shrug of her shoulders. It hadn’t even occurred to Yuuri to consult Victor on his own home country’s history. Now that he did he felt like an idiot for not thinking of it beforehand. 

“Thanks Mila.” Yuuri thanked her gratefully before turning to leave. 

“Yuuri? Word of warning: Don’t get him started on Russian literature. You’ll never hear the end of it.” Mila warned with a knowing smirk gracing her lips. 

“Duly noted.” Yuuri chuckled taking the warning as a lighthearted jab at Victor’s enthusiastic tendencies. Little did he know that Mila was being completely and utterly serious in her warning. 

It wasn’t until he was sitting with Victor during their planning going over 20th century Russian history when he realized how right Mila was. 

Somehow post-revolution works of literature came up and Victor took off running. They way he passionately talked about these works of literature that Yuuri would never usually considered picking up in his own time amazed him. Victor’s eyes sparkled passionately as he talked in great length and detail about _How the Steel Was Tempered_ and numerous authors with surnames that blended together. There were so many -ov’s that it was hard for Yuuri to keep them straight. 

What Victor really seemed to love though was Russian poetry. 

“Oh Yuuri! It’s so much more beautiful in Russian if you can believe it!” Victor sighed after reading from one of many books that made up Victor’s Russian collection. The collection of poetry that Victor had picked out was well loved. The binding was worn after being opened and closed what was probably too many times to count and the pointed edges of the corners had since rounded out with age and use. The pages themselves had been dogeared within an inch of it’s life. Yuuri could tell which ones were Victor’s favorites because those were the ones that were practically falling out of the book. 

Yuuri loved to see this kind of passion light up Victor’s face but he had to admit that he didn’t quite appreciate the beauty in Russian literature like Victor did. He wasn’t about to tell him that though. Victor really could talk for days on end about Russian literature and probably would have if their planning period hadn’t ended.

“I’ll email you the revolution lit that we talked about when I get the chance,  _ da _ ? Bye Yuuri!” Victor called enthusiastically as Yuuri left. Yuuri thank him for his help once more and went back to his classroom, head reeling from the level of enthusiasm that Victor had about the subject. It was incredibly endearing and exhausting all at the same time. 

As Yuuri was walking down the hall he passed Mila who snickered when she saw the look on Yuuri’s face. 

“I  _ did  _ warn you, Yuuri.” She laughed. Yuuri could only respond by giving her an unamused look. Even still, Yuuri was glad to have asked Victor for advice. Not only did he get the insight he needed for his lesson plans, he also learned something knew about the world wonder that is Victor Nikiforov.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one's so short. The next couple of chapters are leading up to some larger chapters if that's any consolation.


	10. Chapter 10

Yuri Plisetsky is what most of his teachers consider a ‘problem child’. Yuri had been in and out of administrators offices countless times and had been expelled from three different school before his father sent him to live with his grandfather. He’s heard just about every bullshit teacher complaint in the book. 

_ ‘Yuri doesn’t take direction well.’  _

_ ‘Yuri needs to be strongly encouraged to comply with school policies’ _

_ ‘Lately Yuri has been disruptive to a conducive learning environment.’  _

_ ‘ _ _ Yuri needs to demonstrate improvement in his academic work if he is to gain the fundamentals needed to pass his classes.’ _

All of their words are shrouded in layers and layers of bullshit but Yuri knew fully well what they really meant. 

‘ _ Yuri talks back _ .’

_ ‘Yuri takes the school rules and flatly tells teachers to shove them up their asses.’  _

_ ‘Yuri likes to pick fights and talks back to teachers on a daily basis.’  _

_ ‘Yuri’s failing all of his classes.’ _

Whatever. What the fuck did all of them know anyway? They didn’t know the first thing about Yuri and during every disciplinary meeting he’d sit in the chair silent with his arms crossed while the principal and his grandfather discussed his fate. He didn’t give a shit anymore. 

Between his absent deadbeat dad, his mother being in and out of hospitals, and working his ass off after school to help pay bills he had more important things to be worrying about than what teachers think of him. 

He had other things to worry about. 

Yuri’s mother first started showing signs of sickness during the summer between middle school and high school. It started off just forgetting simple things or accidentally mixing the days she’s supposed to pick him up from skating practice every once and awhile. Eventually though, her mind started slipping more frequently to the point where she would forget old friend’s faces or a family recipe she used to know by the back of her hand. 

Yuri watched helplessly as his mother slowly slipped away all before her fortieth birthday. 

The doctors called it ‘early onset alzheimer's’. A rare one in a million disease, they said. 

Yuri was faced with the reality that he had limited left with his mother. All he could do now was make the most time with his mother that he could but a part of him couldn’t help but to wonder what if they caught it early? Would they have more time together then?

Yuri made the best of the time they had left but eventually Yuri couldn’t take care of them both, as much as he tried to. Yuri’s mother was admitted to an extended care center and Yuri was shipped off to live with his grandfather after being expelled from the third school for walking out in the middle of class after receiving a text from his deadbeat sperm donor that he was admitting putting his mom into a hospice. 

He doesn’t quite remember what happened after that. All he knew is that he was  _ pissed _ . He’s never bothered to be a part of their lives before so who was he to take his mother away from him now? 

The next thing he knew his Grandpa, his mother’s father who taught in a school the next county over, was helping him pack up his things. Soon enough he was living with his Grandpa and enrolled in an entirely new school. 

Yuri tried to visit his mother as much as possible but it was hard seeing her slowly take longer and longer to recognize him, her own son. Soon there may come a day when recognition faded from her eyes completely. 

“Yurochka! Get up or you’ll be late for school.” Yuri heard his grandpa call. Yuri grumbled and folded his pillow over his head. He had been out late the night before working and if he had it his way he would have dropped out to work years ago but Grandpa would never let him do that. He could practically hear the spiel he’s heard numerous times over. 

_ “The Plisetsky’s did not immigrate so that you could squander your gift of a public education. I don’t care what you decide to do after you graduate but you will finish high school. Do you hear me Yuri Plisetsky? This isn’t what your mother would have wanted for you. _ ” At the mention of his mother the conversation always ended. He  _ knew _ his mother would have wanted the world for him but it just seemed so hard to focus on something so superficial when his entire world was collapsing around him. 

“Yuri!” Grandpa called again. Sighing, Yuri, threw his blanket off his body. 

“Fine.” He grumbled in response. He quickly went through his morning routine and trudged down to the kitchen where Grandpa had a plate of steaming food sitting for him at the table. 

“Did you do your homework?” Grandpa asked as Yuri dug into his plate. 

“Didn’t have time.” Yuri shrugged. Grandpa frowned and let out a deep exasperated sigh. 

“Yuri . . .” He started. 

“Yeah, yeah. I know.” Yuri interrupted. 

“I don’t want any more calls from Victor or Yakov. Do you hear me?” Grandpa warned. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Yuri replied dismissively. 

Grandpa didn’t allow Yuri to get away with shit, especially when it came to his education. Being a recently retired teacher, he knew all of his teachers on a first name basis. It meant that Granpa was more invested in Yuri’s education than anyone had been in a very long time. It was infuriating. 

“How are your classes going?” Grandpa asked after a few moments of disappointed silence. 

“I’m not failing any of them yet.” Yuri grumbled, pushing his eggs around his plate. 

“It would be quite impressive if you were failing this early.” Grandpa replied with a more amused tone. 

“I’m sure Nikiforov would rat me out if I was.” Yuri replied bitterly. 

“All of your teachers just want what’s best for you Yurochka.” 

“Well he cares a little too much.” Yuri said, crossing his arms over his chest, his breakfast long forgotten. 

“Victor is practically family, you know that. Family doesn’t idly sit by and watch family ruin their lives.” Grandpa scolded. 

“How do you even know him anyway?” Yuri frowned. 

“When he was just a boy, your grandmother and I helped him through a very tough time for him and he’s been tied to this family ever since. It’s not my place to tell you any more than that.” Grandpa said firmly. 

Yuri wanted to pry further but Grandpa took his empty plate to the sink and shooed him out the door to the car, declaring he would be late for school if he didn’t stop shuffling his feet. Yuri got into the passenger seat, shoved his bag in the space next to his feet, put on his seatbelt, and slumped into the seat. With a gruff grunt Grandpa pulled himself into the driver’s seat of the truck and started the stuttering engine. 

“The guy who replaced you is my world history teacher.” Yuri mentioned with a bored tone after a few moments of silent driving. 

“Oh?” Grandpa questioned, taking his eyes away from the road to give Yuri an inquisitive look. 

“Yeah. He’s ok, I guess.” Yuri shrugged. Grandpa faintly smirked in amusement. 

“That almost sounded like a compliment.” Grandpa chuckled. Yuri’s frown deepened and he sunk deeper into his seat. 

“No I just don’t hate him.” He retorted stubbornly. Finally their truck pulled into the drop off point looping around the high school. Yuri intended to make his escape from this car as soon as possible. 

“My Yurochka is learning to get along with his teachers!” Grandpa laughed, ruffling Yuri’s hair. Yuri swatted his hand away and made his escape as soon as the car was stopped. “Learn something today Yurochka!” Grandpa called after him. Yuri slung his backpack over one shoulder and trudged into the school. 

The halls were already filled with students but there was still a few minutes before anyone needed to be in class. Yuri slowly made his way to his locker on the other side of the school. A gaggle of freshman girls stood huddled next to his locker giggling about something stupid probably. Yuri rolled his eyes as he entered the combination to his lock. 

“-Sharla said she saw them on a date on Saturday.” One of them gossiped. 

“Sharla’s full of shit. I know for a  _ fact _ she was at Danny Di Stefano's party getting shit faced on Saturday.” Another argued. 

“Maybe she saw them on a day date  _ before _ getting shit faced.” The first one shot back. 

“That bitch is a pathological liar. There’s  _ no way _ she saw them. Pics or it didn’t happen, ho.” Another one piped in. 

“ _ Oh my god.  _ Ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod. Look!” On of the girls squealed, vigorously shaking her friend’s elbow. For just calling her a ho not 10 seconds ago those two were certainly very chummy. “Mr. Katsuki and Mr. Nikiforov are talking! Take  _ one  _ look at them and tell me they’re not dating. Just look at the way Mr. Nikiforov looks at him!” She exclaimed, a little too loudly earning odd looks from passing students. 

Yuri subconsciously shifted his gaze down the hall where Mr. Katsuki and Mr. Nikiforov were standing on hallway duty. From where he stood they only looked to be talking like normal people. Yuri really didn’t know what those girls were seeing, probably nothing. 

Just because they were smiling at each other doesn’t mean anything gossip worthy was going on. 

_ ‘Whatever. Who really cares about what those idiots do anyway?’  _ Yuri thought as he slammed his locker closed. He had the satisfaction of watching the gossip girl closest to him jump at the sudden sound. 

“Jerk.” She muttered under her breath as Yuri passed by. Yuri walked to his first class completely unphased. The bell rang just as he walked into the classroom. 

‘ _ Huh. Not late. I’m losing my edge. _ ’ 

But it would seem a lot of people were. The class was missing quite a few students. Typically every seat is filled in this class so it was strange to see so many empty seats. 

“Yurio! So nice to see you so lively this early in the morning!” Mr. Nikiforov said cheerfully without a hint of malice. Yuri rolled his eyes. 

“Don’t call me that name.” He grumbled as he trudged past Nikiforov to his seat. Victor chuckled under his breath at the boy. He had given him that name years ago when Yuri started working in his grandmother’s bookshop during his free time. It was a name that he only allowed his Grandma to use and he knew that. Yuri swore he only called him that name to torment him.  

That’s just one perk of having a teacher that’s close to your family. 

Mr. Nikiforov looked down at his roll, frowned and looked back up at the smattering of empty seats around his classroom. 

“Is there a field trip today that I didn’t know about or is something going around?” He asked the class. A few spoke up, coming to the consensus that a lot of students were in fact out sick. Yuri cursed at his luck for being one of the ones who was still stuck here. 

Yuri’s luck didn’t exactly improve from there. Victor’s frown when he didn’t have a reading guide to turn in told him that he would be faced with another ‘discussion’ with Grandpa over dinner. 

“Yuri? A word.” Mr. Nikiforov stopped Yuri before he could make his escape after class. Yuri sighed and shuffled over to Victor’s desk knowing exactly the speech he was about to receive. 

_ ‘You need to do your homework.’ _

_ ‘You need to pay better attention in class.’ _

_ ‘How can you expect to pass if you don’t put in the work?' _

Instead something different and totally unexpected came out of Victor’s mouth. 

“How can I help you Yuri?” Victor asked.

“What?” Yuri asked, taken completely aback by the question. 

“What can  _ I _ do to help you become the best student you can be?” He asked. “No one’s against you Yuri. We all want to see you excel and I’ll help you in whatever way I can but you have to meet me halfway.” 

“I-I don’t know how -” He started to say before being cut off by the next bell. Victor sighed and pulled out a pack of brightly colored hall passes. He scribbled the time and his signature before handing it to him. 

“Come see me during lunch tomorrow so we can work something out, ok? You don’t have to struggle alone, Yuri.” Victor said sympathetically. Yuri didn’t want his pity but that’s not what Victor was giving him. Instead Victor was showing him genuine concern and compassion. 

“Thanks.” Yuri mumbled, taking the hallpass in his hand. 

“See you tomorrow Yuri!” Victor called as Yuri walked out into the hall. Victor’s next class was waiting patiently out in the hall for them to finish talking. Yuri left the door open for them but could feel their stares as he passed them.

Yuri didn’t take nearly as much time as he usually does to get to his next class, Victor’s words weighing heavily on his mind for the rest of the day. 

_ ‘You don’t have to struggle alone, Yuri.’ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So . . . No Yuuri in this one but I figured this chapter would be best told through Yurio's eyes . . . and then my fingers slipped and his back story and angst came out. Whoops. Anyway, thanks for reading! The next bunch of chapters should be a little more lighthearted!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally we give Victor and Yuuri's relationship a little push! I've been looking forward to this chapter for a while and it just so happens that this is the longest chapter yet!

_Buzz. Buzz._

Yuuri’s phone vibrated from inside the drawer of his desk. Yuuri sighed and let his head fall down on the stack of papers he was trying to grade. Between an angry parent storming in demanding to know why their child (who had yet to turn in 80% of the assignments Yuuri handed out) was failing his class, a department meeting, and Victor stopping by to say goodbye on his way out with that charming smile of his, Yuuri has yet to make even the smallest dent in his grading. He was tempted to just ignore his phone in lieu of trying to get _some_ work done but figured if it was Phichit his phone would only continue to vibrate until he responded. Sure enough, Yuuri’s phone vibrated again not a few moments later.

**(2) New Messages**

_Phichit, 555-595-5585_

Yuuri decided to open the one from Phichit first, figuring the second one was spam or a wrong number or something. He didn’t recognize the number and he only kept a handful of contacts in his phone.

_The gang wants to go out for drinks tonight. You in?_

_I’ve got a lot of grading to do this weekend._

_Offer’s still open if you change your mind._

With that settled, Yuuri opened up the strange number with the intent on deleting it but paused when he saw the content of the message.

_Hey Yuuri, it’s Victor! I hope you don’t mind but Phichit gave me your number. I hope you can make it to drinks tonight. I look forward to seeing you there!_

Yuuri could only shake his head in amusement. Even in text, Victor is ever the proper English teacher. Admittedly a part of Yuuri was tempted to go knowing that Victor would be there but at the rate he was going Yuuri would be bringing a lot of work home with him for the weekend.

Disappointment gnawed at him but there’s nothing that he could do about it. It’s just been one of those days where it seems that the universe is dead set on working against you.

_I don’t think I’ll be able to make it tonight. I’ve got a ton of grading to catch up on. Sorry. :(_

 

_No worries! Don’t work yourself too hard! Take plenty of water breaks!_

Yuuri smiled down at his phone at Victor’s sage self care advice. He could almost hear his cheery Russian accent when he reread Victor’s text.

“What’re you smiling at?” Phichit chirped up. Yuuri jumped in surprise and quickly shoved his phone in his pocket as if he were a teen being caught on the phone with their crush by their mother. Phichit hovered over his desk with an amused smile lighting up his face.

“It’s nothing, really.” Yuuri insisted.

“Victor’s texting you isn’t he?” Phichit guessed. Yuuri didn’t respond but knew the way his cheeks immediately turned pink would tip Phichit off to the true answer.

“Did you need something?” Yuuri asked, changing the subject entirely rather than giving his roommate the satisfaction that his conniving produced results.

“No I’m just letting you know I’m ready to leave whenever you are.” Phichit shrugged, letting the subject drop for now.

“I’m not going to get any work done here anyway. Just give me a moment to pack up and we can leave. Yuuri said, reaching for an alligator clip on his desk to secure the ungraded stack of papers together. Yuuri made quick work of collecting everything together and sliding it into his work bag.

On the ride home, Phichit surprisingly didn’t press Yuuri to change his mind about going out for drinks. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go out with their friends, he truly was behind on work and wanted to spend a quiet weekend catching up. Besides, there’s no telling what he’ll do if he ends up having a drink too many tonight. At the very least he would end up losing tonight and most of Saturday getting over a hangover.

It’s best for everyone involved if he doesn’t go out tonight.

When they got back to their place Yuuri settled himself on the couch in front of the TV with a steaming cup of tea and his grading piles neatly spread out across the coffee table. Yuuri flipped the TV on to some mindless reality show that Phichit likes to watch every so often. Satisfied that his setup was how he wanted it, Yuuri got to work.

Yuuri worked himself into a good rhythm and before he knew it hours had passed and he made a sizable dent in his grading pile. He probably wouldn’t have even come out of his flow if Phichit’s sonic boom of a sneeze hadn’t startled him.

“Ugh. I think I’m coming down with that thing that all the kids are getting.” Phichit groaned, flopping down on the seat next to Yuuri. Yuuri turned his attention back to the essay he was grading, trying to find the place he left off.

“I think there’s a Vitamin C drink mix in the cupboard.” Yuuri suggested. Phichit made a small whimpering noise in response.

“But that shit tastes nasty Yuuri!” Phichit whined, burying his face into the armrest of the couch.

“Do you want to get better or not?” Yuuri retorted, circling the final grade of the paper at the top corner of the page. It was a fairly average grade but was good progress for this particular student. He paused to write a few notes of how they could improve for the next paper before moving on to the next paper in the stack.

“Fine.” Phichit groaned, pushing himself off the couch. In the kitchen sounds of glasses clinking and water running sounded before Phichit remerged with the bright orange vitamin drink.

“Are you still going out tonight?” Yuuri asked. Phichit took a sip of the drink and immediately grimaced at the strong slightly bitter taste.

“I don’t think I’m full on sick yet but I feel it coming on. I’m drinking your magic witch potion so I think I’m safe to go out tonight.” Phichit replied.

“It’s not magic Phichit. If you don’t feel well I’m sure the others won’t mind if you bow out.” Yuuri tried to reason with him. Phichit simply waved him off.

“This isn’t the first terrible decision I’ve made in my life. It just means I’m not going to try and keep up with the Russians tonight.” Phichit replied cheerfully.

“Are you sure you’re ok?” Yuuri asked skeptically.

“Yes _Mom._ ” Phichit rolled his eyes at Yuuri’s fretting.

“If you come home sick, I’m never going to let you forget this. I hope you know that.” Yuuri warned.

“Yeah, yeah.” Phichit dismissed. “Hey if you’ve changed your mind I’m sure the group could use a designated driver. I know you don’t really like to drink.” Phichit tried one last time to convince Yuuri. Yuuri hesitated to decline. He glanced at his significantly reduced stack of work to be graded, thinking he really didn’t have that much left to do. Suddenly he started to think one night off probably wouldn’t kill him.

“I got more done tonight than I thought I would. I guess I could tag along tonight.” Yuuri said, finally breaking down.

“Really?” Phichit asked in surprise.It wasn’t often that Yuuri changed his mind about going out. Even when they were in college together, Yuuri always found excuses to get out of parties as often as he could get away with.

“Yeah why not.” Yuuri shrugged.

“Great! I’ll text the others!” Phichit exclaimed, disappearing into another room, phone in hand.

Yuuri could only shake his head at his over eager friend. Yuuri packed up all his things back in his bag and straightened up his spot in the livingroom before going to his room to change out of his lounging-around sweats and into a pair of casual jeans.

Phichit and Yuuri met back up by the door when they were both ready to head out. Yuuri grabbed the car keys and he and Phichit left for the bar.

“Yuuri! You decided to come!” Victor exclaimed getting up from the crowded table to greet the newcomers almost as soon as they walked through the doors of the bar.

To Yuuri’s surprise, Victor didn’t stop when he got in front of them but instead circled his arms around Yuuri’s shoulders. Yuuri’s brain momentarily short circuited at the sudden and unexpected close contact with Victor. Yuuri was sure that the next town over could hear the dial-up noise his brain was emitting right now.

“Ever the affectionate drunk.” Phichit teased when Victor pulled away from Phichit.

“I’ve only had one drink.” Victor argued.

“Lightweight.” Phichit shot back.

“Well anyway come join the party. We were just about to order some food.” Victor said guiding them over to the group’s table, his hand finding a place to rest along Yuuri’s lower back.

There were just two vacant seats left at the table (apparently he and Phichit were the last to arrive). One of the seats was pressed up against Victor’s. The other was across the table next to Chris. Phichit took the seat next to Chris before Yuuri could even think about putting some distance between him and Victor’s hand.

“So what’re you drinking tonight Yuuri?” Victor asked when he was settling into the seat. “Beer? Scotch? Whiskey? Rum? Perhaps you’re a vodka man? Victor asked, his voice lowering flirtatiously. Yuuri shifted uncomfortably in his seat under his burning gaze. Did this man even know the effect he had on people or was he just purposely teasing him?

“I-uh . . . I’m not actually drinking tonight. I’m Phichit’s designated driver.” Yuuri explained.

“That’s a shame.” Victor pouted, casually taking a sip from his own drink. “I was quite looking forward to seeing you relax a bit.”

“Yuuri’s the life of the party when he’s drunk.” Phichit supplied from across the table.

“Phichit!” Yuuri protested.

“Is that so?” Victor chuckled, never once looking away from Yuuri.

“Totally! This one time in college he got completely hammered and -” Phichit started.

“Stop!” Yuuri pleaded, hoping to end the embarrassing story before it began. Luckily Phichit took pity on him and let his story trail off into the lively sounds of the bar. Their group casually sipped on a blend of alcoholic drinks while Yuuri drank water. Everyone chatted and joked around over the table and Yuuri actually found himself enjoying himself. Chris’ stories grew progressively wilder the longer the drinks flowed. Phichit however started to look more and more sick and had hardly touched his first drink.

“Are you alright, Phichit?” Yuuri asked.

“I’m fine.” He said, even though he clearly wasn’t feeling well.

“I’ll drive you home.” Yuuri offers grabbing for his keys on the table. Phichit shook his head while pulling on his jacket.

“I’m completely sober. You stay Yuuri. Enjoy yourself. I can drive myself home.” Phichit insisted.

“I came here in an Uber. We can share it if you’d like.” Victor offered to Yuuri.

“Are you sure Phichit?” Yuuri asked hesitantly.

“Yeah I’ll be fine. You don’t get the chance to get out a lot. You should enjoy tonight. Please don’t let me stop you.” Phichit encouraged. Phichit rounded the table and took the keys from Yuuri’s hands. “ _I’m fine_.” Phichit reassured, taking Yuuri by the shoulders and gently pushing him back down into the seat beside Victor.

“Relax, drink.” Phichit ordered.

“You’ll text me if you need anything?” Yuuri asked eyeing his friend carefully. He looked several shades paler and more exhausted than he had seen him in years.

“Yes now quit worrying. You’re going to unwind tonight or Victor is going to tell me and you’ll be in a world of trouble.” Phichit threatened.

“You can’t just order me to relax.” Yuuri argued.

“Try me.” Phichit challenged. “Take care of him, Victor.” Phichit instructed. Victor nodded, seemingly taking the order to heart.

“He is in good hands. Go get some rest.” Victor reassured, his hand rooting itself to Yuuri’s shoulder as if he would run away at a moment's notice.

Phichit gives a weak smile to the group and waved as he left. After Phichit leaves it doesn’t take Chris very to long to suggest that they get another round of shots going, this time including Yuuri now that he was sharing a ride with Victor at the end of the night, a fact that still unnerved Yuuri whenever he thought about it.

“Take it easy Chris. We want to live to see morning.” Victor warned when Chris flagged down the bartender with the intent on ordering some particularly strong shots that might as well be paint thinner.

“Just because you can’t keep up anymore old man doesn’t me the rest of us can’t have any fun.” Chris teased. “What about you Yuuri? You look like a strong and capable young man. Think you can keep up better than old man river over there?” Chris asked, jabbing his thumb accusingly at Victor. By this point Yuuri had already had a drink or two and was starting to feel his judgement loosening with each passing moment.

“Don’t do it Yuuri. I’m Russian and _I’ve_ never seen anyone that could hold their booze like him.” Victor warned, his hand moving to brace itself on Yuuri’s knee in his excitement to dissuade Yuuri.

“Phichit said to have fun and relax did he not? What better way to relax than to have a couple of drinks.” Chris said, directing his persuasion tactics towards Yuuri. Victor narrowed his eyes into a glare directed at Chris. He _knew_ every part of this was a bad idea.

“You drinking both of us under the table isn’t exactly my idea of ‘fun’.” Victor accused.

“What do you say Yuuri?” Chris asked with a wide mischievous smirk, holding up a freshly procured shot to Yuuri’s eye level for him to take. Yuuri reached out and took the small glass in his hand. He cautiously sniffed at the liquid and reflexively pulled away.

Whatever this was it was _strong_.

Against whatever better judgement Yuuri had left at this point in the night, he brought the glass closer to his lips, intent on taking Chris up on his silver tongued promises. At this point Yuuri thought anything sounded pleasant coming from Chris’ warm Swiss accent.

‘ _It would sound even better coming from Victor’s_ ’ Yuuri’s increasingly emboldening thoughts told him.

“Yuuri . . .” Victor protested but it went unheard. Bracing himself for the inevitable burn on the way down Yuuri tipped the shot back and downed it in one go. Yuuri shivered and grimaced at the burn lingering in his throat after the liquid went down.

The remaining sane part of him knew he shouldn’t test fate like this, he wasn’t the most eloquent drunk but he hadn’t had a night out like this since his college days. It might be fun to let loose if only for a night.

So he kept drinking.

* * *

 

Far too many drinks later Victor decided to put a stop to this mess when it became clear that Yuuri was completely wasted while Chris was barely even buzzed. Yuuri was now determined to find the strangest, most colorful drink that he could on the menu, claiming that he was looking for the perfect rainbow drink. He was dissatisfied with the bar’s selection and was now attempting to create his own rainbow by combining a multitude of colorful shots and cocktails. He was just about to pour a bright blue shot on the top of his concoction when Victor carefully pulled the drink away from Yuuri.

“Ok I’m putting a stop to this.” Victor said firmly. The edges of his own words were more obscured by his accent than usual due to his own drinking. As soon as the drink was away from Yuuri he downed the bright blue shot as well as Yuuri’s Frankenstein concoction before Yuuri had the chance to protest. “I think it’s time we got you home Yuuri.” Victor said, rubbing the space between Yuuri’s shoulder blades.

“But _Victorrrrr_ I haven’t tried one of the little blue ones yet.” Yuuri complained with the most adorable pout. Victor wanted nothing more than to kiss that little pout but he held himself back. It would be unfair for him to take advantage of Yuuri when he’s clearly not in his right mind.

“You don’t need to try one of the blue ones, _dorogoy_ ” Victor said gently. Yuuri looked like he wanted to cry at the denial. To hide his watery eyes, Yuuri lowered his forehead to rest on Victor’s shoulder. Whatever was going through Yuuri’s mind right now, Victor had no idea how to even begin decoding it because as quickly as his mood soured from being denied his masterpiece he was once again cheery and utterly adorable.

“You’ll dance with me right? Say you’ll dance with me Victor!” Yuuri slurred throwing his arms around Victor’s neck with a drunk hiccup. The music pounded in the bar and as tempting as the offer was Victor was worried that one of them might break an ankle if they tried to dance in the state their in.

“I’m not even sure I can stand on two feet right now.” Victor said, trying to let Yuuri down gently. That pout reemerged but he didn’t look overly hurt by the denial.

“You know, you speak pretty Victor.” Yuuri said, softly burying his head back into Victor’s neck. “You’re a cute Russian, not one of the scary kind.” He mumbled, his voice thick with exhaustion and intoxication. Clearly Yuuri was not fully aware of what he was saying. Yuuri softly gasped at a sudden realization that struck him.

“You should teach a Russian class! You’re so good at it!” Yuuri exclaimed excitedly at his brilliant realization.

It was definitely time to take Yuuri home.

“Yes Yuuri, I’ll think about it if you let me take you home.” Victor encouraged gently. He reached over to Yuuri’s long since abandoned chair and grabbed Yuuri’s jacket. He somehow managed to convince the poor drunk man in his lap into his jacket. They both got up and Victor’s arm immediately wrapped around Yuuri’s waist to keep his swaying body stabilized. All the while Victor was swearing to to himself that he was going to kill Chris when he was sober and then Phichit would then kill Victor for letting Yuuri get this drunk.

Victor nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt Yuuri’s press himself closer to him and trailed his hand up inside his shirt.

“Your place or mine?” Yuuri leaned up to slur in Victor’s ear before dissolving into a fit of giggles. Needless to say Yuuri caught Victor off guard with his swinging moods. Victor removed Yuuri’s hand from under his shirt and intertwined their fingers together, hoping to dissuade anymore bold moves from Yuuri. It’s not that he didn’t want to be with Yuuri someday but he didn’t want to take advantage of the state Yuuri was in. Their first time, assuming there was even a first time and this attraction wasn’t just something the alcohol had created, it would be something they both would remember. There was no way Yuuri was remembering anything about this night.

“Not tonight, _dorogoy_. I’m going to take you home and Phichit’s going to make sure that you have everything you need.” Victor said with the utmost care, pushing aside a loose strand of hair that had fallen into Yuuri’s eyes.

“But I need _you_ Victor!” Yuuri pointed with a whine.

“I know, I know. Talk to me again after your hangover.” Victor proposed. He knew with a fair amount of certainty that Yuuri would never remember this conversation but it seemed to appease Drunk Yuuri for the moment.

Victor called for a nearby Uber for them to share but unfortunately in the time frame while they were waiting for the car to arrive the last few shots that Yuuri took only added to the younger man’s state. Slowly his slurred English dissolved into a hybrid language until it would seem Yuuri forgot how to translate completely and started speaking almost exclusively in Japanese. Victor had no idea what he was saying but he certainly was being chatty. Victor could only nod and hum while keeping the man as close to him as possible.

When the Uber finally picked them up they slid into the back of the car. As soon as they were both seated Yuuri rested his head on Victor’s shoulder and his eyes started to slip closed in exhaustion. Before he could fall asleep fully, Victor gently shook Yuuri shoulders until he stirred and mumbled in protest. All the while the Uber driver was waiting expectantly for an address.

“Yuuri, _konfetka,_ can you tell me where you and Phichit live?” Victor prompted. Yuuri nodded on Victor’s shoulder and mumbled something in Japanese.

“Yuuri, can you tell me in English?” Victor asked. Yuuri repeated the same Japanese gibberish. Victor finally decided to just take him back to his place to let him sleep it off. It was probably better this way anyway. If Phichit was as sick as he looked when he left he would be in no condition to take care of himself  _and_  his roommate.

So Victor gave the driver his own address and they were on their way back to his place.

By the time they got to Victor’s home Yuuri was fast asleep and no amount of prodding or convincing could wake him. Victor paid the driver who was quickly becoming impatient and carried Yuuri up to the door of his home. It took some contortion and black magic to get the door open without dropping Yuuri but when he did Makkachin greeted them both eagerly at the door, tail wagging and excitedly barking at the return of her owner.

“Shhh Makka! We don’t want to wake Yuuri.” Victor whispered to her in hushed tones. She trotted circles around Victor as he carried Yuuri into the bedroom and set him down gently into the bed.

Victor carefully pulled off the younger man’s shoes and neatly set them on the floor next to the bed, trying his hardest not to disturb his sleep. Makkachin sniffed at Yuuri’s shoes curiously and looked back up at the edge of the bed. She shifted her weight onto her back legs and leapt up onto the bed. Victor acted fast and leaned over Yuuri in a failed attempt to catch Makkachin’s before she could land on the bed. When that didn’t work he snapped his fingers at her in a silent order to get down. Makkachin obeyed her owner but Yuuri was already shifting in the bed.

“Victor?” Yuuri slurs, snuggling further into Victor’s bed.

“Yes?” He asked, petrified while still leaning over Yuuri. Yuuri turned over and gave Victor a wide clumsy smile.

“I like your nose. You have a good nose.” Yuuri complemented before reaching out and poking his index finger against the tip of Victor’s nose. “Boop. boop.” Yuuri said before bursting out into a fit of giggles. Victor couldn’t help but to chuckle at the absurdity of the drunk man but helped pull the blankets over him instead trying to figure out what had just happened.

“Goodnight Yuuri.” Victor said softly.

“Mhmmm . . . ‘night Vicchan.” Yuuri responded.

Satisfied the Yuuri would be comfortable for the night, Victor stood up straight and walked out of the bedroom with Makkachin hot on his heels. Victor closed the bedroom door behind him to dissuade  Makkachin from going and snooping on her new guest.

Victor grabbed a spare throw blanket that he had stuffed in a closet somewhere and collapsed onto the couch. Makkachin gave him a curious look as if to say _‘Why are we sleeping here Papa? Bed is where the other human is.’_ but after a while Makkachin gave up on sleeping in her own bed. Instead she chose to hop up on the couch and curl herself in the space between Victor’s legs and easily fell asleep.

Victor not so much.

Between the uncomfortable couch, a spoiled poodle too good for a perfectly good dog bed that he bought for her wedging herself between Victor’s legs, and worrying how he was going to explain tonight to Yuuri, Victor was pretty restless.

Eventually though he was able to fall asleep to the sounds of a spoiled poodle and an adorable history teacher snoring.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long! It's been a bit of a week :/ Anyways the new chapter's here now! There a few translations needed for this chapter. I apologize ahead of time for inaccuracies. All I'm working off of is Google Translate and Russian dog training sites. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> Slezt (слезть) - get down!  
> Ko mne (Ко мне) - To me/come  
> Sidet (сидеть) - Sit  
> Povernis (Повернись) - Turn around  
> Day pyat (Дай пять) - High five  
> Ostanovka (остановка) - stop/halt  
> Otpuskat (Отпускать) - Release  
> Khoroshaya devochka (Хорошая девочка) - Good girl

During the early hours of the morning Makkachin and Victor were fighting for leg space when Makkachin decided she had enough and wanted to go back to her own damn bed. She hopped off the couch and trudged her way to the bedroom door and pushed on the spot with her head that she knew would cause the door to push open to her. Makkachin trotted over to the bed and hopped up on top of the bed that was rightfully her, completely forgetting that there was somebody already occupying it. 

‘ _ Oh hello, human.’ _ Makkachin thought, inquisitively sniffing at the strange human who was curled up in her spot. Makkachin stepped cautiously towards the sleeping human and sniffed at his face and sneezed at the human’s unfamiliar scent. He smelled nothing like Victor. 

The strange human stirred and cracked one eye open before scrambling back in the bed in the bed in surprise at waking up to a dog in his face. 

“Ah!” Yuuri yelped in surprise before wincing at the pain that ripped through his head at the sudden movement and loud noise he just omitted. Makkachin was startled by the noise and jumped back to the edge of the bed. 

What was that noise? Did she hurt the human? She didn’t mean to hurt the human. Did that sound mean he wanted to play? She hoped it meant he wanted to play!

Makkachin pressed her front legs flat against the bed and raised her back into the air, tail wagging vigorously. She waited patiently for the human to make the next move but he just stared at her with a pained squint mixed with confusion. She parked playfully at him trying to imitate the strange yip the human made but found herself unable to replicate it.

When she didn’t get the response she wanted from Not-Victor, Makkachin started to bounce around the bed in the hopes of taunting the new human to play with her. She was very much disappointed when the human just continued to stare at her with that confused face.  

She thought that she and the human understood each other but perhaps not. Well if the human didn’t want to play there was one thing that he could do. With that thought, Makkachin flopped herself at the strange human and rolled over so that her belly was clearly presented. She looked at the human with an expectant grin as her tongue lolled out of her mouth.

“Oh! You want me to rub you?” Yuuri finally realized. He sat up fully in the bed before reaching out and scratching at the fur along her stomach. 

_ ‘Finally human! We’re speaking the same language!’  _ Makkachin thought.

“Ugh what happened last night?” Yuuri groaned, moving to scratch behind Makkachin’s ears. She didn’t know quite what the human was saying but he didn’t look very happy so Makkachin decided to give him a slobbery kiss to his wrist to make him feel better. Yuuri smiled weakly at the dog’s attempt at comfort and scratched the crown of her head in return. 

“You’re cute.” He chuckled. “But who’s your owner . . .  _ Makkachin _ ?” Yuuri asked looking at the ID tag hanging off of her collar. Makkachin’s tail rapidly thumped on the bed at the sound of her own name coming from the stranger’s lips. Yuuri turned the tag over and saw Victor’s contact information and let out a sigh of relief. 

“You must be Victor’s dog huh?” Yuuri asked the dog. Makkachin wiggled closer to Yuuri and curled up beside him with her head resting in his lap. “Victor must have let me crash here last night. I’m sorry if I kicked you out of your bed last night. I’m sure your dad was just trying to be nice.” Yuuri apologized to the seemingly happy dog. Makkachin sat up and starting attacking Yuuri’s face with slobbery kisses. The human laughed at the poodle’s assault and turned his face to the side but the dog continued to shower her new friend with love. 

The message she was sending was clear: ‘ _ You’re forgiven.’ _

Makkachin is in absolute heaven showering her new friend with love and Yuuri showering her with love in return when Victor had to come in and ruin the party when he noticed her absence from the couch. 

“Makka  _ slezt’!”  _ Victor chastised Makkachin when he found her practically laying on top of Yuuri. Makkachin whined at her human interrupting the moment she was sharing with the stranger in her bed but obeyed reluctantly and jumped off the bed to sit obediently at Victor’s feet. Makkachin looked up at her owner, lamenting at the loss of Yuuri’s skillful fingers scratching through her fur. 

“Oh stop giving me that look, you.” Victor said looking down at the sad look Makkachin was giving him. “Sorry about her. I was sure that I locked her out of here so that she wouldn’t bother you.” Victor apologized. 

“It’s fine. I’m sure she wasn’t too happy about being kicked out of her bed last night.” Yuuri responded good naturedly, squinting as the morning light started to filter through the bedroom window. He suddenly regretted every single decision he’s made in the last twenty-four hours leading up to this moment. 

“Eh, she’ll get over herself.” Victor shrugged, ruffling Makkachin’s fur. “Here. I imagine you have a pretty nasty hangover.” Yuuri watched as Victor disappeared into the master bathroom and came back with a glass of water and a few pills. Yuuri took them gratefully and Victor took that moment to sit down at the edge of the bed, resting his hand on Yuuri’s blanket-covered knee. Yuuri can’t say the contact was  _ completely  _ unwelcome. 

Yuuri’s gaze fixed on Victor’s hands that remained in constant contact with the covered outline of his legs. When Victor noticed where Yuuri’s gaze was locked onto he cleared his throat awkwardly, patted Yuuri’s knee and brought his hand back into his own lap. 

“Right. Last night was . . . - I hope you don’t mind I brought you back here. You weren’t making much sense towards the end there and I figured you wouldn’t mind.” Victor explained. Yuuri winced, but not because of his hangover. He found himself wondering just how badly he made a fool of himself last night. How was he even going to be able to look Victor in the eye after this?

Seeing as how no one was paying attention to her anymore Makkachin hopped back up onto the bed and curled up alongside Yuuri, resting her head on his lap. Victor gave her a look but her eyes shifted up defiantly to Yuuri who didn’t seem to have a problem with her presence and even started absently scratching her ear deep in thought.  

“How bad was I last night?” Yuuri reluctantly decided to ask.

“Well you were certainly a character.” Victor responded, rubbing the back of his neck. Yuuri groaned and buried his face in his hands in mortification. Makkachin lifted her head and gave Yuuri a curious look when he stopped rubbing her.

“I’m sorry you had to see that Victor.” Yuuri apologized through his hands. “I don’t hold my alcohol all that well.”

“It’s alright Yuuri!” Victor chuckled. “I think we can all say that we’ve done things we regret when we’re drunk.” He sympathized. This did nothing to soothe Yuuri’s quickly growing mortification. He knew he should have just settled for a boring night in. Maybe then he wouldn’t have to find the perfect rock to live under for the rest of his miserable life after he makes his escape from Victor. 

“What did I do?” Yuuri questioned, dread settling in his stomach. 

“Nothing illegal, I assure you but you were rather . . . flirtatious.” Victor replied. 

Yup. That’s it. Yuuri’s going to travel to the most remote area on the planet, find a comfy rock, crawl under said rock and die.

Yuuri grabbed the pillow next to him and buried his head in it. He was tempted to let out a frustrated scream but with Victor still watching him intently Yuuri settled for benefit of shielding his utter mortification. How could he have been so stupid?

“Yuuri?” Victor spoke gently. Yuuri gripped at the pillow, sealing it closer to his face. After a moment Victor reached up and gently encouraged the pillow away from Yuuri’s stronghold. When he finally revealed his face Yuuri’s cheeks were bright red and his eyes glistened with unshed tears. 

“I’m sorry, Victor.” Yuuri apologized, keeping his eyes shamefully downcast. 

“What for?” Victor asked genuinely. 

“I must have been such a burden to you last night.”

“Oh Yuuri.” Victor sighed. Yuuri kept his gaze fixed on the pillow. Victor slid his finger under Yuuri’s chin and tilted his face back into view. Even though Yuuri’s hair was sticking up in a million directions, looking like a socially awkward zombie, Victor still thought he looked like the most beautiful person he ever met. “You could never be a burden to me. That’s what friends are for right?”

“Right. Friends.” Yuuri frowned. Victor worried that he had been too forward, too upfront with his affections. The last thing Victor wanted to do was scare Yuuri away. 

“Well anyway. Makka and I are going to make breakfast, if you can stomach it.” Victor said, gently patting Yuuri’s knee before pushing himself off the bed. “ _ Ko mne!” _ He commanded in Makkachin’s direction.  Makkachin lifted her head, grunted, and took her sweet time getting up to follow Victor into the kitchen. It would seem she wanted to stay with her new friend.

As soon as Victor was gone Yuuri sighed and fell back onto the pillows with a soft thump. He pulled the comforter over his head and resisted the impulse to scream. Here he was in Victor’s home, in Victor’s  _ bed _ , hungover, and certainly mortified at what he had done that he can’t quite remember and Victor is a room away making him  _ breakfast. _ Yuuri didn’t know if this was a dream or a nightmare.

Either way he can’t hide in Victor’s bed forever.  

Yuuri pushes himself up and gingerly swings his feet around to lay flat on the floor. Even though he was trying so hard to take things slow this morning he still stumbled when he got to his feet a little  _ too _ quickly. Yuuri groaned when the blood rushed to his head and everything was suddenly just  _ too much _ . Yuuri took a moment to breathe in and out to collect himself before trying again, this time with more success. 

Yuuri shuffled out of the bedroom and followed the smell of cooking bacon, figuring he’d find Victor where the food is. When the hallway opened up into the kitchen the sight before Yuuri took his breath away. 

Victor stood at the stove cooking bacon in a skillet, dressed in sweat pants and a comfortable t-shirt. This was certainly far from the well dressed colleague he usually blushed over but no less lovable. Makkachin sat dutifully at Victor’s heels, looking up at him with wide hopeful eyes. When she got impatient at the lack of bacon in her mouth she gently nudged the back of Victor’s knee with her nose.

“Hold on you beast! It’s still too hot!” Victor chuckled. He set aside a slice of bacon, presumably for the eager pooch, to cool. Victor turned to ruffle Makkachin’s fur but froze when he saw Yuuri watching the two interact before breaking into a brilliant heart shaped smile. “Good morning sleepy head!” Victor said cheerful. 

_ ‘Crap. He caught me looking. Can you make this any worse, Yuuri?’  _ Yuuri berated himself. 

“‘Morning.” Yuuri replied awkwardly. Yuuri’s voice caught Makkachin’s attention and she wagged her tail when she saw Yuuri and trotted over to him, leaving Victor and the bacon without a second thought. Yuuri leaned down and scratched behind her ears. 

“Traitor.” Victor pouted playfully. Makkachin was unbothered by her Papa’s complaints. 

“It smells good.” Yuuri said, trying keep the peace between the two and move on from being caught staring. 

“Thanks. It’s nothing special, really. Just some bacon and eggs.” Victor said, going back to the frying pan. “I - uh . . . admittedly don’t have a lot in my fridge right now. Speaking of, there’s some orange juice in the door if you want some. The glasses should be in that cabinet there” Victor said pointing to the cabinet beside the sink. Yuuri nodded and walked over to the indicated spot and took a glass before hesitating. 

“Would you like a glass too, Victor?" Yuuri asked politely. Victor hummed affirmatively in response. They then fell into a comfortable silence as Victor cooked breakfast and Yuuri poured their drinks, Makkachin walking back and forth between them in search of pats and food. Victor finally broke down and offered her a piece of bacon. 

“Now Makkachin,” Victor started sounding like a disapproving Papa. “You haven’t exactly made a good first impression on our guest. He must think you’re some rebellious untrained mutt! In order to get this,” He said waving the strip of bacon. “We need to show Yuuri your tricks.” He said with a wink in Yuuri’s direction. Yuuri chuckled and sipped at his glass, watching with curiosity. 

“Makka  _ sidet _ .” Victor commanded. Makkachin sat her butt down in one fluid motion, her tail wagging eagerly and her eyes never leaving the prize. 

“ _ Povernis _ .” Makkachin stood up and spun around once in a circle at Victor’s command. 

“Hmmm _ . . .”  _ Victor tapped his chin, pretending to be deep in thought. Makkachin snorted impatiently but otherwise stood still awaiting her next command.  _ “Day pyat.”  _ Victor finally decided, reaching out his empty palm towards her. She lifted her paw up and placed her paw in Victor’s hand. 

“Good girl! Alright one more.” Victor promised. He tore a chunk of bacon off the strip and set it on the tip of her nose. “ _ Ostanovka . . . ostanovka . . . ostanovka . . .” _ Victor warned and Makkachin waited for her command obediently but clearly hyper aware that her treat was resting on her nose. “ _ Otpuskat!”  _ He finally said. Makkachin didn’t need to be asked twice, collecting her prize without hesitation. 

“Good girl.” Victor complemented handing her the rest of the strip of bacon for her valiant efforts. Yuuri reached over and scratched the top of her head. 

“That was amazing Makkachin!” Yuuri laughed. “How do I tell her she’s a good girl in Russian?” Yuuri asked. 

“You can say:  _ Khoroshaya devochka. _ ” Victor answered. Yuuri attempted to parrot the praise back to the good girl. Despite probably butchering the language completely, Makkachin got the gist and responded with hard thumps of her tail against the hardwood. 

Victor went back to cooking but kept a subtle eye on Yuuri and Makkachin interacting while he cooked. Victor found himself hoping for a day that moments like this was guarenteed. The domesticity of the morning, hangover or not, had Victor seeing stars and hearing wedding bells. Yuuri wasn’t overly upset at the situation, he adored Makkachin and Makka was in love with Yuuri in return. The only way this morning could be more perfect was if this domestic bliss could stay forever. 

With the cooking done, Victor made two plates and walked one of the over to Yuuri where he was playing tug with Makka. As he got closer Victor noticed that Yuuri was making cute playful growling noises in response to Makka’s own growls. Victor’s never seen anything more adorable in his life and mourned that he had to interrupt the moment. 

“I come bearing sustenance.” Victor said. Yuuri looked up and smiled warmly at Victor before taking the offered plate. 

“Thank you for making breakfast.” Yuuri thanked. 

“It was no problem at all.” Victor assured. 

They ate breakfast making comfortable conversation about anything and everything. At one moment Yuuri and Victor were both laughing at a shared joke, food in their stomach, warm dog at their feet, and hangovers slowly receding, when Yuuri was struck with a feeling of overwhelming happiness. If he could stay stuck in this moment forever he would.   

They took their time getting the day started, both far too comfortable in each other’s company to disturb it in anyway. It was close to noon by the time Victor and Makkachin drove Yuuri back to his and Phichit’s place. When the car stopped Makkachin nuzzled Yuuri’s elbow with a soft whine from the back seat. 

“Thank you again Victor.” Yuuri said, hesitating to go back to his own life. 

“It was my pleasure, Yuuri.” Victor said with a genuinely warm smile. Yuuri smiled in return and turned slightly to give Makkachin one last pat goodbye. 

“I’m sorry I took your bed last night Makkachin. I hope we can still be friends?” He said scratching at a sensitive spot he had uncovered earlier in the morning. The response she gave led Yuuri to believe there was no bad blood between he and the dog. “I’ll see you Monday?” Yuuri asked directed towards Victor now. 

“Absolutely.” Victor affirmed. Yuuri got out of the car but before he could get out of earshot Victor rolled down the window and called out to Yuuri in a sudden stroke of bravery. “Hey Yuuri?” Victor called. Yuuri stopped walking and turned back towards Victor. 

“Yes?” Yuuri asked expectantly. As soon as Victor’s eyes met Yuuri’s soft brown eyes he lost his nerve. He  _ wanted  _ to ask Yuuri to go out to dinner with him, he  _ wanted  _ to steal him away and monopolize him for the entire weekend, he  _ wanted _ more time with Yuuri. 

“Be sure to drink lots of water today, ok?” Is what came out of Victor’s mouth instead of all the  _ other _ things he wanted to say. 

“Sure. Have a good weekend Victor!” Yuuri waved, completely unaware of Victor’s inner dilemma. As soon as Yuuri disappeared out of sight behind the door Victor threw his head down against the steering wheel and let out a cry of frustration. 

“Water Makka! I told him to drink water!” Victor shared his plight with his most trusted companion. Makkachin looked back at him with a blank stare. Victor sighed and put the car and drive. 

“Let’s go home, girl.”

* * *

 

As soon as Yuuri had the door closed he leaned his head back against the door and closed his eyes. Had all that really just happened? 

“Are you just getting home?” Phichit asked in a low congested voice, lifting his head from the couch where he was laying watching bad reality tv. He was swaddled in about three different blankets and nursing steaming cup of tea. 

“Yeah, I stayed at Victor’s last night. Apparently Chris got me drinking and I didn’t stop until it was far too late.” Yuuri explained, coming into the apartment and sitting down on the opposite end of the couch from Phichit. Phichit raised a curious eyebrow. 

“You stayed at Victor’s?” Phichit repeated.

“Yes.” Yuuri affirmed. 

“Should I be researching where to hide a body?” Phichit asked. Yuuri sighed and sank into himself against the couch. 

“Put down the pitchfork. Victor was a perfect gentleman. He even slept on the couch.” Yuuri explained. He left out the part that Victor’s dog was not as accommodating as her owner. 

“You sound almost disappointed.” Phichit commented, turning his attention back to the television. 

Yuuri didn’t respond because deep down he knew Phichit was right in a way. 

No, he didn’t want yesterday’s shitty night that he couldn’t even remember be what started a potential less professional relationship with Victor but Yuuri couldn’t deny that he hadn’t thought about what a relationship with Victor would look like. He knew he was attracted to Victor, who in their right mind wouldn’t be, but was that attraction just a passing crush or could it be something more? 

That was the question that had been haunting him more and more frequently.

Having Victor take care of him when Yuuri was at his most vulnerable, meeting his precious dog, and spending the morning working off their hangovers together only served to make his attraction to Victor grow. Yuuri realized that being invited into Victor’s life that way only made him fall even more for the man. Yuuri realized, after last night, that he could easily imagine himself fitting into Victor’s life. Yuuri could easily imagine himself in Victor’s life, cooking with him, laughing with him, taking Makkachin out on walks together. Perhaps Yuuri even returning the favor and taking care of Victor when he was his most vulnerable. 

With his head pounding equally as hard as his heart, Yuuri realized he was completely and utterly enamoured with Victor Nikiforov.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Russian translations for this chapter: 
> 
> Slezt (слезть) - get down!  
> Ko mne (Ко мне) - To me/come  
> Sidet (сидеть) - Sit  
> Povernis (Повернись) - Turn around  
> Day pyat (Дай пять) - High five  
> Ostanovka (остановка) - stop/halt  
> Otpuskat (Отпускать) - Release  
> Khoroshaya devochka (Хорошая девочка) - Good girl


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. My life has been a bit hectic for the last month between working and moving back to college. Well it's here now!
> 
> Ty govorish’ na russkom? (Ты говоришь’ на русском?) - Do you speak Russian?  
> Da ser (Да сэр) - Yes, sir.  
> Kak zdorovo! (Как здорово!) - How amazing!  
> mon cher ami - My dear friend  
> Merde - Shit!  
> dorogoy (дорогой) - Darling

Yuri hovers by the small hospital room’s door. He had been here so often that this might as well be his second home but there’s always that moment of initial hesitation where his mind would wonder if she would even recognize him today. The firm grasp of his grandfather’s hand on his shoulder encouraged him forward.

He could be strong.

Yuri pushed open the door and held his breath when he took in his mother’s condition. Just like the day before and the day before that she lay in the bed hooked up to a million different monitors and machines. Some days were better than others, some days she could hardly remember her own name and the nurses would turn him away to let her rest. Fortunately, today was one of the good days, not great but not the worst.

“Hey mom.” Yuri said. Faint recognition twinkled in her eyes. Yuri pulled up a chair next to her bed and covered her hands with his. “It’s me. Your son Yuri.” He was about to pull his hands away when she smiled sadly and turned her hand over to grasp Yuri’s hand.

“I’m sorry sweetie. Of course it’s you.” She said. Although she tried to put on a brave cheerful face around Yuri it was easy to see just how much pain it caused her to not be able to immediately recognize her own son.

“How are you Mama?” Yuri asked.

“I’m fine. Don’t you worry about me darling. How’s school? You’re not getting into trouble again are you?” She asked as if it were still a part of their normal everyday routine.

“No Mama.” He answered dutifully.

“That’s good.” She said with a weak smile. “I’m so proud of you Yuratchka. You’ve always been my little ray of hope. Please never change.”

“I promise Mama.” Yuri swore. Despite how hard he fought against it unshed tears stung at his eyes. They way she was talking now made it seem like she was giving up.That was the last thing Yuri wanted. If he had it his his mom would get better and they would go back to how things used to be but that’s not possible and he knows that.

Putting the morbid cloud aside, Yuri spent the rest of visiting hours enjoying his time with his mother. They watched the news together squished together on the small hospital bed while Grandpa snored in the seat by the window. Over a bland hospital dinner Yuri’s mom helped him with some math homework. By the time the nurse came around to kick him out it almost felt like everything had been back to normal . . . _almost._

Mama kissed Yuri’s temple and shooed him away, silencing the protest that was sitting at the tip of his tongue.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, ok?” Yuri promised. Grandpa hovered silently by the door, watching the exchange between his daughter and grandson.

“Of course. Say hi to grandma and Uncle Vitya for me alright?” She said, softly stroking Yuri’s hair. Yuri nodded and gave his mother one last firm hug before the nurse could come back and forcibly glare him out of the room.

The next morning came all too soon. As per their usual morning routine, Grandpa had to practically drag him out of bed to get him to school on time. As it was Yuri had to take breakfast to-go since he had such a late start.

The five minute-warning bell shrilled just as he stepped into the building. Yuri slung his backpack over one of his shoulders and shuffled his way to his first class. As he rounded the corner he ran into a significantly larger body. Typically Yuri would just ignore the people that got in his way and keep walking but this dude threw him off his balance, forcing Yuri to take a step or two back. Yuri threw a glare at the jerk in the leather jacket

“Watch where you’re going loser.” Yuri growled, readjusting his bag and storming around the asshole. If he made any sort of response, Yuri never heard it.

“Good morning Yurio!” Victor greeted, hanging by the classroom door until the bell rings. Yuri scowled and kept his head down. Why is he always so god damn cheery in the morning?

“I told you not to call me that name, old man.” Yuri grumbled, trying to continue into the classroom.

“So prickly!” Victor laughed but let him through.

Yuri walked over to his desk and slumped into his desk. Overcome with exhaustion of the early  morning, he let his head fall to rest on the desk on top of his crossed arms. Even from the far corner of the classroom he could hear Victor cheerfully greeting every student that walked into his classroom as well as some of the obnoxious teacher’s pets that passed him in the hall on their way to their own classes. Yuri could have sworn he heard Mr. Katsuki’s voice somewhere in the crowd as well. Yuri only bothered to look up when he heard a change in Victor’s usual morning greeting patterns.

“Oh! You must be our new student.” Victor said. Yuri shifted his head towards the door to see that the leather-jacket-jerk from earlier was now the victim of Victor’s early morning cheerfulness. “Come in, come in. Let’s get you up to speed.” Victor gestured the new student into the classroom. Yuri followed their path towards Victor’s desk with his eyes out of mild curiosity. The new student caught Yuri watching them and he quickly shifted his eyes back down to the ugly linoleum tiled floor.

Mr. Nikiforov shuffled around his desk for materials the new student would need. When he found what he needed he handed the student a small stack of papers and a textbook. The student took the materials with an expressionless nod.

 _‘What’s with this dude?’_ Yuri thought.

“Mr. . . Otabek Altin right?” Victor asked glancing at his role. “Correct me if I’m wrong but you’re our new exchange student.”

“Yes sir.” Otabek answered dully. “I’m from Kazakhstan.” He supplied.

“Kazakhstan?” Mr. Nikiforov asked tapping his chin in thought. “ _Ty govorish’ na russkom?”_ He asked, the familiar lilt of Russian rolling off of Victor’s tongue. It’s not often Yuri hears his native tongue being spoken, so naturally his eyes shifted back upwards to watch the exchange.

“ _Da ser.”_ He nodded. Victor smiled excitedly at the development. Much like Yuri, Victor didn’t exactly have many opportunities to speak in his mother tongue outside of the home.

“ _Kak zdorovo!”_ He clapped once, pressing his clasped hands to his lips, his eyes practically glowing with excitement. “Well, welcome to America Otabek.”

“Thank you.” He thanked rather stoically. The exchange between the two was cut off by the sound of the tardy bell piercing through the halls and classrooms.

“Ah right.” Victor sighed, resigning to start the day. “Otabek, you can sit next to Mr. Plisetsky over here.” Victor said, gesturing over to the surly teen who was now sinking further into his seat, arms crossed across his chest. “Yuri here is fluent in Russian so he can help you with translating should you need it. Isn’t that right Yuri?” Victor said narrowing his eyes at the teen, challenging him to disagree.

“ _Da._ ” He grumbled with a roll of his eyes. Was this supposed to be Victor’s new way of keeping him engaged in class?

Otabek sat down in the vacant seat next to Yuri. Out of the corner of his eye, Yuri noticed Otabek giving him the occasional curious look. As soon as he called roll Victor dove straight into his lesson about the historical influences of The Crucible. Yuri was only pretending to listen to Victor’s lecture but the new kid staring at him between taking notes was really starting to piss him off.

“What are you looking at.” He finally snapped underneath his breath, trying not to draw Victor’s attention.

“I’m sorry.” Otabek apologized, shifting his eyes back to his meticulous notes.

“What?” Yuri asked, thrown off by the Kazakh for the second time that day.  

“I made the wrong impression earlier. I apologize.” Otabek elaborated. “Let’s start over. I’m Otabek.” He said extending his hand across the aisle.

“Yuri.” He supplied, hesitantly grasping Otabek’s extended offer of a truce.  From the front of the room Victor made eye contact with Yuri but his lecture didn’t falter in the slightest but he could have sworn he saw a ghost of a smile twitch at the sides of the man’s lips. But that could have very well have been his own imagination.

 

* * *

 

“What a fine day to be alive! The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, angelic sounds of gay choirs are ringing from hill top to hill top.” Chris exclaimed with a dreamy sigh as he entered Phichit’s classroom during lunch. Phichit rolled his eyes and set down his thermos filled with soup that Yuuri made for him over the weekend while he was slowly dying from his cold. He was feeling better today but if Chris was making such a grand entrance he only had enough energy to focus on one task at once.

“You’re awfully cheerful.” Phichit commented, his voice still thick and stuffed up from his weekend cold.

“Oh it’s nothing really.” Chris waved, sitting himself on Phichit’s desk with crossed legs. “But it looks like I’m about to win our little bet, _mon cher ami.”_ Chris boasted, his chest puffing with pride.

“I wouldn’t be so sure.” Phichit warned.

“No?” Chris asked raising a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “You should have seen the way those two were all over each other after you left on Friday.”

“If you think anything Yuuri says or does while he’s drunk is a step in the right direction you are sorely mistaken. If anything this means _I’m_ closer to winning than you are.” Phichit argued. Chris’ proud smirk fell as he thought about it for a moment.

“ _Merde_.” Chris frowned.

“Chris, I want those two happy as much as you do. Let’s forget about the stupid bet and work together to give them a gentle push in the right direction.” Phichit suggested. Chris sighed and nodded in defeat. There was a brief moment of silence between them before Chris let out a gasp of inspiration and turned to Phichit with a wide mischievous smile.

“I have an idea.” Chris proclaimed.

 

* * *

 

When Yuuri agreed to go out to dinner with Phichit and the others after work he didn’t expect to be betrayed by one of his oldest friends like this.

Yuuri didn’t think much of it when Phichit insisted they go out. He had seemed pretty excited by the fact that he could actually properly _taste_ food again after his weekend long cold. He also didn’t think much when Phichit told him to head to the restaurant without him since he had to stay after school to ‘work on stuff’ before their reservation. Yuuri didn’t even begin to consider there was a game afoot until he and Victor were sitting across from one another at a quiet candle lit table in the corner of a restaurant that screamed romance rather than casual work dinner. They waited for Phichit and Chris to show up but as time ticked on they both came to the realization that they had been bamboozled by their nearest and dearest friends.

This was confirmed by a pair of suspiciously in-sync text messages from Chris and Phichit, both apologizing that they wouldn’t be able to make it that night.

“What an unfortunate coincidence. Phichit and Chris can’t make it.” Victor said looking down at his phone at the same group-text messages that Yuuri had seen. Now, Victor is a very intelligent man and he knows Chris far better than he would care to admit. It’s now clear to him that those two were up to something.

“Do you think . . . ?” Yuuri started to ask on a similar train of thought as Victor.  Those meddling imps weren’t as subtle as they thought they were.

“It seems like something they would do.” Victor agreed. “I’m sure they mean well.” Victor offered.

“So . . . what now?” Yuuri asked, nervously playing with the corner of his napkin that sat in his lap underneath the cover of the white tablecloth. Victor leaned forward and rested his elbow on the table, letting his face rest against his open palm. He looked beautifully content, like a masterfully expressive renaissance painting right in front of Yuuri’s eyes.

“Well . . . we’re already here.” Victor reasoned. “There’s no reason why we can’t have a nice dinner together.” He suggested giving Yuuri the warmest, most breath takingly inviting smile. Even if he wanted to Yuuri could never deny such an expression, especially coming from someone as magnificent as Victor. Victor could ask for the world and he would also receive the moon on a silver platter as a complimentary boon.

 _‘Dear lord I’m beyond smitten.’_ Yuuri thought to himself as he considered the multitude of wars that could be started over the curve of this man’s delightfully heart shaped grin.

“A-alright.” Yuuri agreed when he realized Victor was still looking at him for an answer. If it was possible Victor’s smiled widened even more.

Nervous flutters assaulted his stomach and Yuuri had to tell himself to take calming breaths. What did this mean for them? Was this still just colleagues going out for dinner or did this mean something more after the morning they had shared together just a few days ago? For all he knew Yuuri was reading _way_ too much into this. Victor’s a really nice guy, after all. He’s probably just this friendly to everyone he meets. Yuuri’s nothing special but he had hoped . . .

“Yuuri, relax.” Victor said, reaching over the table to take Yuuri’s hand in his. Victor gave his hand a gentle squeeze and offered in a comforting smile that halted the path of his self destructive thoughts. The action surprised him but Yuuri found that he had absolutely no desire to pull his hand away.  “You’re over thinking it, _dorogoy._ Let’s just enjoy tonight and whatever happens, happens.” Victor reassured.

Outside of school hours Yuuri and Victor never got the chance to meet up with each other where it was just the two of them. The prospect that tonight, whatever tonight was, had the slightest possibility to lead to something more with Victor excited Yuuri. Even if that ‘something more’ only turned out to be a strengthening of their friendship, for the first time in his life Yuuri was prepared to take that risk.

This whole situation was uncharted territory and Yuuri is as excited as he was terrified.

The waitress pulled them out of their little bubble when she came over to take their order. In the confusion of their friend’s treachery Yuuri hadn’t had time to look at the menu so he chose the first thing his eyes landed on. It was some sort of pasta dish, he could have definitely done worse in terms of random selection.

It didn’t take long before they fell into a comfortable conversation, all nagging worries miles away from his mind. Victor and Yuuri chatted about everything and nothing, no school, no work, just Yuuri and Victor.

“You know Yuuri, I am very disappointed in you.” Victor said resting his chin on his hand, trying to sound but the smile hinting at his lips gave away his playfulness.

“Story of my life.” Yuuri retorted without skipping a beat.

“Don’t you want to know why?” Victor asked pouting when Yuuri wouldn’t take his bait.

“Why?” Yuuri asked, appeasing the poor man.

“You broke my poor dog’s heart and for that I can never forgive you.” Victor accused dramatically.

“I don’t see how that’s my fault!” Yuuri argued with a laugh.

“You, Yuuri Katsuki,” Victor said pointing at Yuuri with an accusing finger. “You made poor Makka fall in love with you and now she misses you. All she does is pout and sigh around the apartment all day.”

“I wonder where she gets it from.” Yuuri retorted playfully before he could filter himself. Yuuri’s eyes widened in horror at his terrible lapse of thought and he was worried that he had offended Victor when he let out a quiet hurt gasp.

His fears were quickly soothed when Victor dramatically clenched at his broken heart and started to recite Shakespeare.

“Give sorrow words. The grief that does not speak whispers the o'erfraught heart and bids it break.” Victor recited from memory, playing up his heartbreak to the point that Yuuri couldn’t help but to laugh at this man’s absolute ridiculousness. “I’m glad you find my heartbreak amusing, Yuuri.” Victor pouted.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Yuuri laughed clutching at his sides. “It’s just - You’re something else, Victor Nikiforov.” Yuuri concluded, his eyes brimming with nothing but warmth and affection for his friend.

“A good something else, I hope?” Victor asked, suddenly serious, all pretenses of dramatic playfulness set aside. Yuuri let his hand slide back into Victor’s and gave it a gentle reassuring squeeze.

 _‘Whatever happens tonight, happens.’_ Victor’s words rang in Yuuri’s mind. Yuuri wasn’t going to let his fear control him anymore. If there was something between him and Victor he wasn’t going to stand in his own way any longer. Yes, he may still be wary of diving headfirst or terrified of rejection but as long as Victor kept meeting him halfway he would always try to take his extended hand.

“Yeah, a good something else.” Yuuri reassured. Victor looked down at where their hands were joined and smiled warmly.

“Yuuri, I’ve really enjoyed spending tonight with you. We should do it again.” Victor said. Yuuri’s heart lept into his throat and an involuntary smile spread across his lips.

“I’d like that.” Yuuri responded, ready to walk into the future with Victor so long as they remained hand in hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ty govorish’ na russkom? (Ты говоришь’ на русском?) - Do you speak Russian?  
> Da ser (Да сэр) - Yes, sir.  
> Kak zdorovo! (Как здорово!) - How amazing!  
> mon cher ami - My dear friend  
> Merde - Shit!  
> dorogoy (дорогой) - Darling


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy cannoli this chapter is a doozy! I'm sorry it took so long but hey it's over 8k words and is full of fluff 'n stuff. 
> 
> An important word to know for this chapter (I just really like this word and I had to use it somewhere):
> 
> callipygian - Having well-shaped buttocks.
> 
> Translations:  
> Da (Да) - Yes  
> lyubimaya (любимая) - beloved

“You’re in a good mood.” Phichit noted when Yuuri came into the kitchen first thing in the morning humming a sweet tune to himself. It’s a far cry from Yuuri’s typical morning zombie-like state but like most mornings Yuuri ignored Phichit and went on to pour himself a cup of coffee, but this time out of spite. He continued to hum a cheerful tune that his mother had always hummed while she worked around the in. Phichit frowned at Yuuri’s slightly out of place silent treatment.

“Yuuri?” Phichit asked waving his hand in front of Yuuri’s unresponsive expression.

“ _Yuuri_! Are you ignoring me?” Phichit asked. Phichit got his answer when Yuuri continued humming and sipping at his coffee. “Oh come on Yuuri! You’re not mad at me are you? Is this about last night?” Phichit pouted. Yuuri raised a single damning eyebrow, lifting his mug to take a long slow sip.

“Can you at least tell me how it went with Victor?” Phichit begged.

“Traitors don’t need the details of their betrayal.” Yuuri said, finally acknowledging Phichit.

“ _Yuuuuuri_ you’re so mean!” Phichit pouted.

“I don’t know what you want me to say. You and Chris abandoned us at that restaurant because you decided to play matchmaker. What if we didn’t like each other, Phichit? Do you realize how unprofessional that makes everyone look?” Yuuri scolded. Truthfully, Yuuri wasn’t all that upset but this whole ordeal had taken a stab at his pride and he wanted to make it crystal clear that Phichit overstepped his bounds.

“So you do like Victor?” Phichit asked with a sly smirk, completely glossing over what Yuuri was upset about to begin with.

“Not my point.” Yuuri sighed, rubbing small soothing circles at his temples. Yuuri wondered if it was still too early in the day to go back to bed and demand a factory reset of the morning.

“Ok, ok. It was a really shitty thing for us to do but in our defense we saw you and Victor were really into each other. You two are the most stubborn people we know and we just wanted to give you a little nudge in the right direction because lord know you two would have been dancing around your chemistry for years unless something pushed you two.” Phichit defended.

“Thank your for your concern but kindly butt out from now on.” Yuuri requested.

“I’ll remember this moment when I’m writing my best man speech.” Phichit warned. Yuuri instinctively rolled his eyes but a giddy fluttering rolled in his gut at the possibility that Phichit might ever have a reason to write a best man speech to begin with. It would be a lie to say that Yuuri couldn’t imagine that future for himself. It would be a few years down the road maybe, but Yuuri wasn’t one to jump into stagnant casual relationships. Yuuri _wanted_ a committed relationship with Victor, he _wanted_ a future where they could go out on dates, cuddle with Makkachin together on the couch for a quiet night in, he _wanted_ to spend holidays and birthdays with Victor, he _wanted_ to one day be able to take Victor to Japan and proudly introduce him as his partner to Yuuri’s parents. He hoped, maybe one day, they would be able to commit to spending the rest of their lives together.

But Yuuri was getting ahead of himself. There were no best man speeches in his near future, hell he just barely had a first date with the man in question. Whatever the future had in store for him, now was not the time to ponder wildly.

“I’m sure you will.” Yuuri replied sarcastically. Yuuri didn’t know if he would ever get to that point with Victor, for all he knew he could just be a short fling in Victor’s eyes. Victor is an immensely kind and handsome man. He could probably make any number of people of happy but if there was a small chance that Yuuri might make him happy in return, Yuuri would be content in staying with Victor as long as he could have him. They hadn’t really talked about where their relationship could be heading but Yuuri would have to be blind and deaf to see not see that Victor enjoyed being with Yuuri, even if it was only a small fraction of Yuuri felt. There was something there, some small potential, he was sure of it.

Yuuri only had to reach out, meet Victor halfway, and never let go.

“Can you at least tell me how it went? I need details Yuuri!” Phichit whined, sliding into the seat next to Yuuri, looking at him expectantly for the juicy dets. Seeing that Phichit wasn’t going to let him get away with saying nothing, Yuuri caved in.

“Victor and and I had a very nice night.” Yuuri supplied reluctantly. Phichit latched onto Yuuri’s arm and pouted on his best friend's shoulder.

“Yuuri! You have give me more than that!” Phichit pleaded.

“Fine. We talked _and_ we had a nice dinner. That’s all you’re getting out of me.” Yuuri replied stubbornly.

Phichit gave him a broken puppy look for the rest of the morning while they both go ready for work, periodically pleading for more dirt but Yuuri was feeling just a little bit petty. Even still, as much as Yuuri was annoyed with Phichit he still had giddy butterflies in his stomach over what happened the night before.

Last night had been more than magical for Yuuri, unconventional, but utterly amazing nonetheless. In the history of forced blind dates this one had to take the cake. The conversation had flowed easier than Yuuri could ever imagine, Victor’s smile seemed to radiate warmth around their engrossed bubble, the food could have been good but Yuuri couldn’t exactly recall. One thing could be certain though, last night left Yuuri more hopeful for the future than he has been in a very long time.

When they got to the school Yuuri had to shoo Phichit off to his own classroom. Phichit responded with a pout but gave Yuuri some space before the students arrived. The silence that fell in Yuuri’s classroom was almost eerie. It wasn’t often that he had a quiet moment to himself without a student or faculty member vying for his attention. Well . . . there was one faculty member who could bother him all day if he so chose and Yuuri wouldn’t mind.

‘ _I wonder what Victor’s doing this morning’_ Yuuri thought. He quickly banished the thought as soon as it appeared. He’s at work now, now’s not the time to be daydreaming about his dreamy co-workers.

Yuuri had just settled into grading some leftover homework when Victor came bursting through the door, a cardboard carrying tray with two coffee’s in hand. He was noticeably out of breath and far less put together than Yuuri had ever seen him. Victor’s hair was a wild disarray like he had just rolled out of bed and it looked like he missed a button on his normally neatly pressed shirt. Victor held up a finger, asking for Yuuri to give him a moment while he leaned against the doorway to catch his breath.

“Victor?” Yuuri asked curiously.  

“Overslept . . .” He huffed. “I wanted . . . to bring you . . . coffee.” Victor panted, extending his offer of caffeinated drinks out to Yuuri.

“Thanks. You really didn’t have to if you were running late.” Yuuri said taking the cup that had his own name scrawled across the surface of the lid. “It look like you ran to Russia and back to get them.” Yuuri commented lightheartedly. Victor chuckled nervously and smoothed his hair down, realizing then how frazzled he must have looked.

“I was worried I wouldn’t make it here on time. I wanted to talk to you before the students arrived.” Victor explained. The gravity of Victor’s tone piqued Yuuri interest before mild panic set in. Did he regret last night? Did he change his mind about wanting to spend more time with him? What if everything up to this point had been one sided after all? Is he just overreacting and Victor just wanted to discuss work?

In one instant, all of these thoughts chipped away at Yuuri’s insecurities, setting every anxiety ridden worst-case-scenario loose to wreak havoc in his mind.

“What did you want to talk about?” Yuuri asked feigning calmness even though internally he was ten stages deep in panic mode. Yuuri leaning back in his chair to give Victor his undivided attention.

“My intentions.” Victor confessed.

“Your intentions?” Yuuri parroted back, thrown off by Victor’s choice of words. Yuuri’s panic stalled for a brief moment and Yuuri _almost_ wanted to chuckle because the phrase sounded so archaic, like Victor had been reading too many Victorian romances lately. But _of course_ Victor would be the type to be so delightfully archaic. Yuuri had no doubt that the man could properly use any number of archaisms and make them cool again. Hell, he could revive the word callipygian in a less than a week.

“If you’ll allow me, I want to take you out on a date . . . A proper one that is. Without those two friends of ours pulling strings behind the curtains.” Victor said resolutely. His features stayed firm but the faintest line of worry creased his eyebrows.

A wave of relief flooded Yuuri’s nerves. Last night did mean something to Victor after all. Yuuri hadn’t realized how on edge he had been until suddenly all of the weight fell off of his shoulders with Victor’s proposal.

“I’d love to Victor.” Yuuri responded eagerly. “I had a lot of fun last night so I can’t wait to see what a ‘proper’ date looks like.”

“I-I didn’t mean it like that! I-” Victor stuttered nervously. His eyes were wide and he waved his hands in protest, clearly worried that he had somehow offended Yuuri in some way. The very notion of Victor offending him was ridiculous to Yuuri.

“Victor I’m kidding!” Yuuri laughed, giving the man a quick wink as emphasis.

“Oh.” Victor breathed out a sigh of relief. A light twinge of pink graced his fair cheeks, an excited smile once again stretching across his face where it belonged. “Well in that case there’s the most adorable little dog friendly bookshop in town that I’ve just been dying to take you to! It’s a small little mom and pop shop but the owner just _adores_ Makkachin! Oh! And did I mention that there’s a _spectacular_ coffee shop just across the street from the bookshop! We can go there first and have a lovely brunch. They draw the cutest little pictures in their latte’s. The baristas there capture Makka’s likeness quite splendidly if I do say so myself. Oh and just down the street there’s -” Victor rambled on excitedly. Yuuri could have listened to Victor daydream about their upcoming date for days but the universe seemed to have different plans when the bell signalling the students were allowed to enter the school rang.

“Oh well.” Victor sighed defeated, his shoulders sinking slumping in his clear disappointment. “There just never seems to be enough time in the day when I’m with you, Yuuri.” Victor smiled sheepishly, looking up at Yuuri from under his long silver lashes. The sight alone was enough to set Yuuri off in a burst of heated blushing but combined with what he had just said, it was enough to kill a man.

God this man was going to be the death of him. Doesn’t he know that he can’t just casually say things like that and not expect Yuuri to feel like he’s going to burst into flames?

“Th-thanks by the way. For the coffee.” Yuuri said, decidedly moving past what Victor admitted before reconsidering what he really wanted to say. “And the date! The coffee and the date! Well I guess we haven’t gone on the date yet but thanks in advance. I’m really looking forward to spending more time with you.” Yuuri rambled awkwardly. When he met Victor’s eyes again, Victor gave him a warm reassuring smile.

“It’s ok I’m nervous too. I really like you Yuuri.” Victor admitted, letting his hand come to rest on Yuuri’s shoulder. The sentiment calmed Yuuri’s nervous jitters if only slightly. He would have expressed a similar sentiment had a knock on the door not reminded them that a world existed beyond their bubble.

Yuuri cleared his throat and called out that the door was open. A student from his honors American history class stepped in clutching a stapled packet of paper to her chest. Yuuri internally kicked himself for not remembering that agreed to meet with Maria before school to troubleshoot her history paper before the due date.

“Mr. Katsuki? Can we talk about my paper?” She asked.

“Yes of course Maria. Come in, pull up a seat.” Yuuri instructed.

“I suppose that’s my cue to slip out. We can hammer out the details later I hope you have a wonderful day Yuuri.” Victor said before stepping out of the classroom to leave Yuuri and his student to do their work. Victor had his own work to do too but there’s no denying that he now had a noticeable pep in his step after finally guaranteeing a _real_ date with Yuuri, no meddling, no pretenses, just Victor and Yuuri and the hope for a closer bond.

* * *

Victor and Yuuri eventually come to schedule their date for Saturday morning. Yuuri admittedly wasn’t a morning person but the prospect of a brunch date with Victor was probably akin to having an extra shot of espresso to start his day. Excitement bubbled in the day’s leading up to their first date. Of course they still ate together during lunch and spent their planning periods working side by side when they could but all of that would be nothing compared to when they could finally drop the air of professionalism, if only for a little while.

By the time Saturday morning rolls around Yuuri is beside himself with equal parts nerves and excitement. Yuuri found himself standing in front of his closet agonizing over what he was going to wear.

“Relax. It’s just a date. You and Victor talk to each other all the time. It’s just like that except . . . not.” Yuuri told himself. Fat load of good that did him because he was no closer to choosing a damn pair of pants. Yuuri takes a deep break and groans as he's staring indecisively at his options. Half of his wardrobe was strewn on his bed and Yuuri had changed his indecisively clothes about five different times before Phichit had to had to finally intervene.

“Sweet lord just pick the blue shirt and the jeans that makes your ass look amazing!” Phichit yelled from the next room.

Yuuri looked thoughtfully at the outfit in question and decided that Phichit’s judgement was sound. When he deemed himself presentable, Yuuri didn’t chance a second glance towards the mirror in case he changed his mind again. Yuuri briefly considered slicking back his hair like he used to do for competitions years ago during his skating days but decided against it, worried that it would make him seem like he was trying unnecessarily hard.

‘ _You_ are _trying too hard, Yuuri’_ His mind echoed. The fact is that Victor has never indicated in any way that he cared for Yuuri’s appearance, hell he didn’t even seem to mind when he was utterly shit faced but it didn’t stop him from wanting to give Victor the best version of himself. Victor deserved the best, he deserved the world served to him on a silver platter.

 _Stop._ Yuuri needed to step back and stop over thinking this or else he’ll be a mess by the time Victor picks him up. It’s ok. It’s just a date. Just two people who mutually like each other, eating food and talking. It’s no different than spending lunch breaks together. Except it is.

Yuuri threw his head back and groaned in frustration. He hated feeling so on edge but he had to remember Victor would soon be waiting for him, arms wide open, smile warm  and comforting.

He could do this.

“Yuuri?” Phichit asked knocking hesitantly on Yuuri’s bedroom door. “Are you alright?” He asked when Yuuri didn’t answer. Yuuri took a deep calming and opened the door to reveal Phichit standing at his door with a look of concern on his face. As soon as he saw how nervous Yuuri must have looked, Phichit’s expression shifted to understanding and he enveloped Yuuri in a firm hug.

“Hey, it’s going to be alright.” Phichit reassured. “You look amazing. Victor won’t know what hit him.”

“Thanks.” Yuuri mumbled.

“Hey. Stop that. Chin up.  Your anxiety doesn’t define you, ok?” Phichit demanded firmly. Yuuri clenched his fist and nodded. Phichit’s right and he always seems to know just what to say to boost Yuuri’s confidence.

“Thanks Phichit.” Yuuri said. Phichit smiled his token friendly smile and patted Yuuri on the shoulder.

“What else are friends for?” He replied cheerfully.

Before Yuuri could reply the doorbell alerting Victor’s arrival chimed through their home. Yuuri caught only a glimpse of Phichit’s mischievous expression before he ran off sprinting towards the door with Yuuri hot on his heels. Phichit got to the door and ripped it open, startling his date in the process. Phichit leaned casually across the doorway to block Yuuri’s view as he was approaching.

“Oh hey Victor! What a surprise to see you here! Can I help you something?” Phichit asked innocently. Victor was quite a bit taller than Phichit so it wasn’t hard to for Yuuri to see the adorably confused look on his face shift into a relaxed smile when he saw Yuuri appear behind Phichit.

“Actually Yuuri and I -” Victor started to explain but before he could finish Yuuri nudged Phichit out of the way, sending his friend a soft glare to remind him that he agreed to stop meddling.

“Hey.” Yuuri smiled softly up at Victor. Victor rewarded Yuuri with that heartwarming smile that he had been craving all morning.  

“Hey back.” Victor replied in a soft voice, looking at Yuuri like he was the only man in the world worth his time.

“Awww look at you two crazy kids.” Phichit cooed like a proud mother. “Hold on! Let me get my phone! I need a picture for Mama Katsuki!” He cried, running into the apartment to retrieve his phone. Yuuri blushed at his friend’s antics. To spare him any further embarrassment Yuuri hooked his arm through Victor’s, pulling him towards the exist. They almost managed to make a clean getaway . . . almost.

“Have him back by midnight! Say no to drugs! Use protection!” Phichit called behind him. Victor laughed like a good sport but Yuuri was more than a little mortified. Why is Phichit like this?

“I’m sorry about him.” Yuuri apologized, hiding his face behind his hands. There were now safely out of Phichit’s sphere of terrorism heading towards Victor’s car. Victor chuckled and draped his arm around Yuuri’s shoulder.

“It’s alright, Yuuri. I think it’s quite endearing really. You two must be very close.” Victor reassured.

“A chronic pain in my ass is what he is.” Yuuri grumbled. Victor got a good chuckle out of that.

“You might want to have a doctor look at that.” Victor retorted playfully with a wink.

“Something tells me Phichit’s more of a incurable life long bother.” Yuuri joked.

“Would you have it any other way though?” Victor asked. Yuuri didn’t hesitate with his response.

“Of course not.” Yuuri replied. Despite the all the meddling and antics Phichit was one of Yuuri’s oldest friends, the had been living together for years, there’s no way Yuuri could imagine his life without his friend.

When they got within view of Victor’s car, Yuuri gasped in delight when he saw Victor’s lovable fluffy companion sitting dutifully in the passenger side seat. As soon as she spotted the pair coming towards the car, she perked up and started happily bouncing back and forth between the front and back seat, periodically sticking her head out the open windows to sniff the air in anticipation. Yuuri walked up to the nearest backseat door and Makkachin met Yuuri there. She stuck her head out the window and Yuuri started scratching behind both of her ears.

“Is Makkachin coming with us today?” Yuuri asked all the while showering the poodle with affection.

“I don’t think she would let me leave the house without her today. It’s like she _sensed_ I was going to be with you today. Forewarning though: she might just a _tad bit_ excited to see you so be careful when you get in the car. You can always tell her to back off. She’s a big girl, her feelings won’t get hurt too much.” Victor warned, scratching the top of Makka’s head while Yuuri focused on an itchy spot on the side of her neck. The poodle looked like she had died and gone to heaven.   

“Oh I could _never_ hurt your feelings. Isn’t that right girl?” Yuuri cooed at the pooch. “Makka Makka Makkachin, such a good girl. Yes you’re the best girl.” Yuuri sang praise to the dog. He was sure he must have sounded like an idiot but he couldn’t bring himself to care. At the very least the dog seemed to enjoy his praise. Yuuri spared a glance Victor’s way and was surprised to find that the man looked like he was about to combust. His hand was covering his mouth and his eyes were just the slightest bit watery at the edges.

“Victor . . . Are you alright?” Yuuri asked, afraid he had overstepped his bounds or upset him in some way.

“I’m fine.” Victor squeaked, his voice muffled by his hand covering his mouth. He took a moment to recompose himself before retracting his hand away from his lips. “I’m sorry I’m fine now. It’s just you two together are too much for me to handle.” Victor admitted.

“Sorry?” Yuuri apologized.

“Don’t be.” Victor responded immediately. “Come on, let’s get going. I’m sure Makka’s dying to show you around town.” He said ruffling the dog’s floppy ears. She responded by giving Victor a slobbery lick to his wrist.

“You wanna go for a ride, Makka?” Yuuri asked. Makkachin tilted her head with her ears pirked at attention, her tail thumping rapidly against the leather seats in excitement.

“Now you’ve done it, Yuuri.” Victor groaned, jokingly. Yuuri laughed and made his way to the passenger seat. Makkachin followed Yuuri’s path and met him as he slid into the seat. As soon as Yuuri stilled she assaulted Yuuri with rapid fire kisses and head bumps. Yuuri scrunched his eyes shut and instinctively angled his face away to catch his breath. Yuuri giggles uncontrollably because how could he _not_? If he wasn’t already sweet on her owner, Makkachin would be reason enough to stay with anyone.

“Alright, that’s enough out of you. Get in back.” Victor commanded, always the one to ruin Makkachin’s fun. Makkachin, like the usually dutiful dog she was went to the back seat on command but as soon as they started driving she rested her upper body on the center console between the two front seats with her lower half in the back seat. It was easier for her to see out the front window this way and she wasn’t being too much of a bother so Victor let her stay there so long as she behaved herself.

Victor drives them downtown and parks just a few blocks away from the cafe they were going to have brunch at. When they passed through the main drag of town Makkachin seemed to recognize their surroundings and she began to whine eagerly. It would seem Victor took her this way often.

“I swear sometimes you're too smart for your own good.” Victor frowned looking down at his dog who was now leaning up and swiveling her head left and right rapidly. She was a pupper who was _ready to go_.

As excited as she was, she still waited patiently while Victor and Yuuri got out of the car and Victor pulled her leash out from the trunk of the car. As soon as the hook of the leash snapped into her collar she took that as her cue that she was allowed to get out of the car. She hopped down and in the short few moments where Victor had turned to close the door behind her, Makkachin had run circles around Yuuri and Victor, tangling the couple up in her leash.

Stuck in their inescapable bind, Yuuri was pressed against Victor’s chest and Victor had his arms wrapped around Yuuri to stabilize them from falling over. Meanwhile, pleased with her work (and thoroughly out of leash to continue) Makkachin sat down on the pavement, waiting to go on her walk.

In all the confusion Yuuri hadn’t even realized where his hand ended up while in the process of being roped up by an overeager poodle. Yuuri and Victor’s eyes met before Victor’s gaze shifted downwards to where Yuuri’s hands were groping Victor’s chest.

“My, my Yuuri! It’s only the first date!” Victor joked. Yuuri blushed and laughed awkwardly, trying to put some distance between each other but ended up tripping over Makka’s still tangled leash. Yuuri stumbled backwards but Victor managed to stabilize him before Yuuri could topple them both over. “Team work, _da_? I’m going to spin us alright?” Victor warned. Yuuri nodded and Victor took Yuuri by the shoulder and spun them until they were free of the tangle. Victor shot a stern look at Makkachin who grinned a deceptively innocent doggy grin back up to him.

“ _Makkachin Viktorovna Nikiforova_ you are being a menace, young lady. Behave yourself or you won’t see treats for a very long time.” Victor warned. Makkachin bowed her head submissively and pressed her forehead against Victor’s leg as an apology. Something told Yuuri that Victor’s threat was an empty one but it still warmed his heart to see their dog-parent relationship play out.

“Are you ready, Yuuri?” Victor asked turning to extend his hand out to Yuuri. Yuuri intertwined his fingers with Victor’s happily and they started walking hand in hand down the street. Makkachin trotted happily in front of them, looking back every so often to see if the couple was still following her.   

The cafe was a quaint little shop buzzing with customers and sounds of Saturday morning bustle. The smells of roasted coffee and fresh baked goods wafted from the open door. It looked like the kind of place where Yuuri could easily imagine Victor sitting one of the comfy arm chairs in the corner writing the next great American novel or grading papers on his days off.

"Here we are. You find a seat out here with Makka and I'll go get us some coffees. Mocha right?" Victor asked, making sure he got Yuuri’s preference right. After all the before-school coffees that Victor had brought Yuuri, Victor had narrowed down Yuuri’s preferences to those that were rich and bursting with flavor. He didn’t seem overly fond of overly dark or potent drinks. Even still, Victor didn’t want to assume.

"Sure. Surprise me." Yuuri agreed and reluctantly let go of Victor's hand and took hold Makka’s leash from Victor. Yuuri found them a well shaded table on the outside patio of the cafe and sat down to wait for Victor to return. Makkachin settled down dutifully underneath the table with her head resting on top of Yuuri’s feet.  Yuuri smiled at the dog and reached down to scratch behind her ears like he knew she liked.

Yuuri found it odd how this dog seemed to selectively misbehave. He got the impression that she was usually perfectly well behaved and the only reason she had a leash on now was because of a city ordinance. Victor had proved to Yuuri the morning after their impromptu sleepover that Makkachin was fully trained but Makka has proven herself time and time again that she also had an intelligent independent mind of her own. Clearly, it was her greatest asset and weakness.

Victor returned a few minutes later with coffees and plateful of various breakfast pastries for them to share.

"I see you two are getting along famously. I'm almost jealous." Victor said, setting their breakfast down on the table. Makkachin lifted her head, acknowledging her owner before sighing and laying her head back down at Yuuri’s feet. Yuuri chuckled and rubbed his foot along Makkachin’s exposed belly, eliciting a brief few appreciative thumps of the dog’s tail.

“Are you jealous of your own dog, Victor?” Yuuri teased, picking up his cup and sipped his salted caramel mocha. Victor had ordered a latte and sure enough his pooch’s likeness encased in a large heart was recreated in the drink’s cream with chocolate.

"She always seems to command your attention at my expense." Victor pouted.

"Awww poor Victor's jealous of us isn't he Makkachin?" Yuuri asked leaning down to scratch behind Makka's ears with both of his hands. Makkachin licked at Yuuri's wrist and looked like the most smug dog that ever walked this earth, meanwhile her owner pouted from across the table.

“Sometimes I swear you only like me because of my dog.” Victor teased, tearing off a piece of an almond croissant and popping it into his mouth.

“Pft.” Yuuri scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“But you didn’t deny it!” Victor accused but couldn’t contain his light chuckle at the ridiculousness of the topic. "You two are going to be the death of me one day." Victor shook his head with a wistful sigh.

“Victor, I’m here for you. Makka’s just a pleasant side benefit.” Yuuri reassured, taking hold of Victor’s hand across the table and squeezed it gently. Victor’s expression softened and he lifted their joined hands to press a soft kiss to the back of Yuuri’s hand. The skin where Victor’s lips had touched tingled in the wake of the contact.

“I don’t know what I ever did to deserve to meet someone like you Yuuri Katsuki. You’re more wonderful than words in any language could ever hope to express.” Victor professed. Yuuri had no response to that. _Yuuri_ was supposed to be the one wondering how he had gotten so lucky but it made his heart swell to know that the feeling was mutual. Yuuri took a raspberry pinwheel from the plate and chewed thoughtfully in the hope to hide his elation.

“Victor this is a date right? Can I ask you about yourself? It’s just I feel like I’m already so close to you but I don’t know much about you.” Yuuri asked anxiously. He wanted to know everything about Victor, his likes, his dislikes, what his family’s like, what his cringe-worthy teenage phase had been.

“Only if I’m allowed to do so as well.” Victor agreed.Yuuri quickly made a mental list and asked the first question that popped into his mind.

"So what brought you to America, Victor?" Yuuri asked curiously. Victor's accent wasn't overly strong but it was always there. Yuuri could only assume that he was born in Russia but he always wondered how he ended up as a literature teacher in America.

“My parents.” Victor answered cheekily. “My turn. Tell me, why did you stay after you retired from skating? Why history? Why teaching?” Victor questioned.

“That’s not fair. That’s more than one question and you didn’t answer my mine.” Yuuri frowned. Victor held his hands up in surrendered defeat.

“You caught me.” Victor admitted. “I moved to America with my family when I was twelve. My father was an international banker and split his time between New York and our home in St. Petersburg. I didn’t see him a lot as a child but when we were given the opportunity to live in America with him full time, there was no hesitation. We packed up our flat in Russia and immigrated. It was an absolute dream to finally be able to spend time together as a real family. I know it breathed life back into my mother to finally have the conventional family life with her husband that she had always wanted.  Even still, I didn’t know a word of English. My mother knew some from her days as a traveling ballerina but there was only so much she could teach me. My father ended up having to hire me a private tutor for quite a few years. Your turn Yuuri. Why become a history teacher of all things?” Victor gestured to Yuuri expectantly.

“I’ve always enjoyed history as a student and planned to eventually become a history teacher. I never really expected for my figure skating career to be sustainable so I majored in history education while I trained in Detroit. I-uh . . . blew my knee out during a competition a year after I graduated and that put an end to my skating career. My education and license was completed here in America so I just stayed rather than go back to Japan.” Yuuri shrugged.

“Do you ever miss Japan?” Victor asked.

“Do you ever miss Russia?” Yuuri retorted back.

“Touche.” Victor chuckled.

“My turn?” Yuuri asked. When Victor nodded, Yuuri paused thoughtfully to think about his next question. “Ok I have to know, why English Literature?” Yuuri inquired.

“That has a lot to do with my childhood language tutor. When I came here I _hated_ the language. I thought it was ugly, nonsensical, and an utter waste of my time when I was homeschooled and my family and tutors all spoke Russian to me. I was homesick and convinced that we would eventually go back home to St. Petersburg. My English tutor Ms. Oksana stormed in and kicked my ass right into shape. From day one she refused to speak Russian herself or let me get away with slacking off.” Victor said chuckling at the memory of his tough tutor. Yuuri continued to listen intently while he nibbled on the doughnut on the plate.

“I didn’t understand a goddamn thing she said for weeks but I slowly got the hang of it, such as children do. She was firm but she wasn’t a cruel woman. She could see I was struggling with everything, my studies, the language, homesickness, so she gave me two books for my birthday. They were the same exact books  _Masterpieces of Russian Literature_ one of them was in English and the other was in Russian. Those books were probably the best gift that anyone has ever given me. It had been so long since I had gotten a piece of home and Russian literature always connected me back to the boy still left behind in his home country. After Oksana gave me the books she changed our lessons so that I was reading stories that I almost already knew by heart in my second language. Together we found the easiest way for me to learn English was through literature and I learned to fall in love with the intricacies of this stupid language. It also didn’t help that I was a starved bookworm as a child I probably went through at least three books a week so naturally my favorite days were when Ms. Oksana would tutor me in her bookshop.”

“Oksana had a bookshop?” Yuuri interjected. Yuuri could just picture a young Victor curled up in a chair in a quaint little shop devouring book after book, blissfully unaware of the world around him.

“Yes we were in New York City at the time and her bookshop was a small little haven for me. I probably would have spent all my time there if my mother wouldn’t come in and chase me back home. Oksana and my mother used to be very good friends, we were all heartbroken when she decided to move out of the city.” Victor explained with a sad smile.

“Where is Oksana now?” Yuuri wondered out loud.

“Just down the street actually. She owns the bookshop I’m taking us to. She moved out here with her husband and daughter and opened another bookshop away from the city. We visited her family when we could during the holidays and such. She took me in as if I were one of her own when my parents passed away. I owe my life and career to that woman.”

“Your parents? I’m sorry I didn’t know.” Yuuri apologized but Victor waved him off dismissively.

“It’s alright Yuuri. I’ve done my mourning and come to terms with it. My parents lived good lives and I’ve realize the best way to honor them is to live a good life for myself. Besides, it was many years ago.” Victor said squeezing Yuuri’s hand reassuringly to silently tell him he wasn’t bothered sharing any of this with him. “My turn now. I’ve talked a lot so I think it’s only fair I get to ask a few questions for myself.”

“Ask away.” Yuuri agreed.

“Tell me about your favorite book.” Victor challenged

They continued to go back and forth like that asking each other typical getting-to-know-you questions until they had both finished their coffees and the pastries were nothing but remnant crumbs on the plate. By the time they started walking down the street again it was already almost noon.

While they were walking Yuuri held onto Makkachin’s leash with one and hand Victor’s hand with the other, letting Makka lead the way since she seemed to know exactly where she was going. Makkachin led them a couple of shops down and stopped at the crosswalk, looking back at Victor as if to tell him to push the button. The walk signal flickered on and as soon as the cars stopped to make Makka a path she strode forward, pulling Yuuri along with her. She continued weaving around people, stopping to smell plants and objects that caught her interest, until she came to a familiar shop and turned into the open doors without hesitation.

"Is she allowed to come in?" Yuuri asked, trying to pull her back. Makkachin shot him a look of annoyance and continued walking anyways. Victor laughed and gestured for Yuuri to step inside.

“Makka’s Oksana’s most valued customer. She’s free to come and go as she pleases.” Victor reassured. Yuuri nodded and allowed Makkachin to pull him through the doors of the shop.

Bookshelves bursting with books lined every corner of the shop, the front of the shop had a furniture set with a couple of armchairs and a table set up in front of the large bay window looking out to the street.

A colorpoint ragdoll cat rested curled up on a pillow on the windowsill, happily basking in the sunlight coming in from the window. Makkachin walked up to the cat and sniffed curiously but the cat was less than amused when it lifted it’s head to hiss at the dog before going back to sleep.

"Victor! Makkachin!" An elderly Russian woman gasped from behind the front counter as soon as the couple came into view. She had been working at the computer behind the desk but she immediately put down her reading glasses and scurried around the desk to pull Victor into a bone crushing hug. This must be the infamous Oksana.

Victor and Oksana exchanged a few words in rapid fire Russian before she finally pulled back and pressed her hands tenderly to Victor’s cheeks, like a grandmother would when she hadn’t seen her grandchildren in far too long.

“Yuuri, this is Oksana.” Victor introduced, gesturing towards the elderly woman. “Oksana, this is my Yuuri.” He said gesturing back to Yuuri. Before Yuuri could process it Oksana let go of Victor and pulled Yuuri into a firm hug of his own. Just when Yuuri felt like Oksana would crush him if she held on any longer she pulled back and gave Victor a hard calculating look.

“Is this man your boyfriend?” She asked Victor bluntly.

“It’s actually our first date.” Victor replied with a brilliant excited smile. Oksana let out a scandalized gasp and smacked Victor’s arms with a book that had been innocently sitting on the front desk. “Ow!” Victor flinched with a chuckle.

“Shame on you Vitya! Leave my shop now and take this boy out on a proper date. I know for a fact your mother taught you better.” Oksana scolded while Victor rubbed the sore spot on his arm. Yuuri could only stand dumbfounded and just a little bit frightened at the exchange. “I apologize about him. He’s always been a bit touched in the head, you know?” She said, turning back to Yuuri with a much kinder warmer smile.  

“Hey!” Victor protested. Oksana frowned at him and shot off a lecture in rapid Russia, shaking her book at Victor as she scolded him. He had the good sense to not argue with her. When she had finished chewing Victor out she turned back to Yuuri and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“It’s nice to meet you Yuuri. Please have a look around, enjoy yourself. I wish you all the luck and happiness with Vitya.” She said before pulling Yuuri aside and mock-whispered in his ear, not quiet enough to escape Victor’s earshot. “If you ever need embarrassing childhood photos of Vitya, his dear mother left all the old family albums in my care.” Oksana winked conspiratorially.

“Don’t you have shelves to stock or teenagers to terrorize?” Victor asked, pulling Yuuri away from the woman and spinning him to start walking down one of the aisles of bookshelves.

“Yurio doesn’t come in until three.” She shot back. Victor let out a short laugh and guided them down the furthest aisle away from the desk. They had left Makkachin wander about the store, knowing that she wouldn’t go very far away from the desk seeing as she is currently behind the desk being fed treats by Oksana.

“She seems nice.” Yuuri commented as he and Victor scanned along the shelves together.

“She’s like family to me.” Victor shrugged as he inspected the cover of a thriller novel.

“Is that why you brought me here? To meet her - your family?” Yuuri asked.

“Well that and I needed a new book.” Victor admitted cheerfully pulling out a paperback and stacking it with the growing stack of books in his arms.

 _A_ book? Yuuri thought looking at Victor’s growing stack with amusement. If it were Yuuri reading the amount of books Victor was picking out it would be enough for a year. Somehow Yuuri got the feeling that all of those books would all get read and they would be back here for more books in less than a month. Victor didn’t seem the type who could leave a book unfinished.

Victor and Yuuri walked around Oksana’s shop chatting about their favorite books and pointing out titles on the shelves that the other might like. It was a learning process, testing out each other’s tastes, seeing what they had in common. Their hands touched when they both reached out for the one copy of _The Death of Ivan Ilyich_ that caught their eyes on the shelf in front of them. Victor retracted his hand and urged Yuuri to take it.

“It’s yours.” Victor insisted gesturing for Yuuri to take the book.

“I’m sure you’d appreciated more than I could.” Yuuri argued placing the book on top of Victor’s stack.

“Nonsense! Besides I’ve read it already.” Victor countered handing the book back to Yuuri.  

“You have?” Yuuri asked.

“Well, in Russian and before I came to America but I lost my copy some time ago” Victor admitted.

“Then you should have it.” Yuuri insisted.

“How about a compromise? It’s yours and you let me borrow it when you finished!” Victor suggested. Yuuri thought about it and shook his head.

“Make it the other way around and you have yourself a deal.” Yuuri countered stubbornly. Seeing that there was no sign of Yuuri backing down Victor chuckled.

“You drive a hard bargain Yuuri.” Victor smiled adding the book to the substantial stack under his arm.

The couple continued walking around the shop until they decided to check out. Yuuri had picked out three books. One was a science fiction that he had been meaning to pick up for a while now, another was a historical non fiction book and the last was an indulgent fantasy novel that Victor had recommended to him.

Oksana rang up Victor’s books but waved away Yuuri’s considerably smaller stack. Yuuri started to insist that he pay but the woman cut him off.

“Please, sweet child, no _lyubimaya_ of Victor’s is going to pay at my shop.” She insisted as she put Yuuri’s books in a bag for him. Yuuri didn’t understand the word that she had used but figured it was a sweet sentiment based on context.

“But you let me pay?” Victor complained with playful incredulousness. Oksana give Victor an exhausted look.

“Vitya if I didn’t make you pay I’d go bankrupt in a month. This is a business not your personal library.” Oksana said. Victor pouted and put a hand over his broken heart.

“I feel so loved.” Victor said his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Consider this payment for making me suffer through your teenage years.” Oksana replied while she rang up Victor’s stack of books.

“Fair enough.” Victor agreed with a shrug. Oksana finished ringing up Victor’s books and handed him a few bags in exchange for his money. Victor wound Makkachin’s leash around his wrist and looped the bag’s handles over the leash. In his other hand, Victor slipped his hand into Yuuri’s, never more happy to have both of his hands occupied.

“It was nice to meet you Yuuri. It’s been too long since Vitya brought anyone to meet me.” Oksana said to Yuuri before turning back to Victor with sharp look. “You better bring this boy back Vitya!” Oksana scolded. Maybe it was Yuuri’s imagination but he could have sworn he felt Victor’s hold on him tighten instinctively.

“ _Da, da.”_ Victor appeased.

“And it wouldn’t kill you to come home for dinner more often. I’ll make your mother’s stroganoff. Bring Yuuri too!” Oksana dotted like well . . . a Russian grandmother. Victor looked like he was about to die of mortification as he tried to steer Yuuri towards the door. Yuuri covered up his laughter with a cough. “Don’t be strangers you two!” Oksana called.

“So . . . _Vitya_?” Yuuri asked with hint of amusement in his voice as soon as the shop’s door closed behind them. A tinge of red crept to Victor’s cheeks. Yuuri had to admit that Victor was more than a little adorable when he is embarrassed.

“It’s an old pet name Oksana refuses to let go.” Victor said, the blush now reaching the tips of his ears.

“It’s cute _Vitya.”_ Yuuri admitted. In a moment of bold and completely uncharacteristic braveness Yuuri reached up on his toes and pressed a quick peck to Victor’s cheek. And to think Yuuri thought Victor couldn’t turn any more red.

Yuuri was about to stumble out an apology at his complete and utter lack of forethought but then Victor reached up and took Yuuri’s face between his hands. Yuuri brain short circuited and he stood in stunned silence as Victor leaned in. Yuuri’s eyes instinctively slipped close in anticipation, reveling in the tender way Victor held him. Instead of a kiss like Yuuri had expected, Victor pressed his forehead against Yuuri’s.

Yuuri chanced a glance at Victor and when he finally managed to open his eyes he was met with Victor’s passionate cerulean gaze. They stayed like that for a few brief but immeasurable moments, neither daring to move and break them out of their trance. Finally, Victor broke the silence.

“Yuuri, may I kiss you?” Victor asked, his breath teasing brushing across Yuuri’s lips. Yuuri nodded mutely and pushed himself up on his toes to meet Victor lips halfway. The feeling of Victor’s lips on his was tender and sweet and everything he imagined it would be.

They probably could have stayed that way forever if Makkachin wasn’t struck by jealousy that her Papa was hogging all of Yuuri’s attention. Victor pulled back all too soon when Makka jumped between them and started placing wet slobbery kisses on both of their cheeks.

“Makka!” Yuuri giggled angling his face away from the eager pup who was undeterred by Yuuri’s avoidance. Victor did nothing to help the situation, in fact he just stood there laughing and holding up Makka’s front legs as she assaulted Yuuri with love.

Passersby gave the scene odd looks but to Yuuri this was by far the best end to a first date he could ever hope for. He was in the arms of his handsome date with said date’s adorable dog lavishing him with love.

What more could a man possibly ever ask for?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp that's all for now folks! As always I'm amazed at the response this fic has and I look forward to hearing what you all think of Victuuri's first date!
> 
> Translations:  
> Da (Да) - Yes  
> lyubimaya (любимая) - beloved
> 
> callipygian - Having well-shaped buttocks.


	15. Chapter 15

There are very few things in this world that will motivate Yuri to actually be punctual. Without fail he would be on time for his mother, that’s given. Cats are also a good motivator, but beyond that nothing was sure to get Yurio to a place on time than the silent disappointment of his _babushka._ Nothing put a silent frown on Yuri’s grandmother’s face faster than if he’s late helping her close the bookshop for the day.

Yuri’s grandmother is a kind woman, admittedly prone to excitement, but she was a hard working woman and Yuri had the utmost respect for her. Even if he made a show of grumbling and complaining, deep down there’s no place he’d rather spend his weekend evenings than in his grandmother’s bookshop. Besides, Potya, the bookshop’s live-in cat, made for good company during the slow hours.

When Yuri walked into the shop for the start of his shift, his grandmother was in an odd mood. She hummed quietly to herself as she built a new display, a small grin glued to her face. Yuri wondered what had her in such a good mood.

Potya met Yuri at the front desk, circling around him and rubbing at his legs all the while crying for attention. To silence the whining beast, Yuri filled Potya’s food bowl that was hidden behind the front desk

“Good afternoon Yuratchka.” Oksana greeted her grandson cheerfully. Yuri grumbled out a response but went about his usual duties. When Potya finished her dinner she hopped up onto the counter and curled up by Yuri’s elbow.

“Victor stopped by earlier.” Oksana mentioned casually.

“Oh yeah?” Yuri asked, feigning interest.  

“And he brought his boyfriend with him.” She continued on, pride beaming from her voice.

“Gross. Who’d want to date Victor anyway? He’s so obnoxious.” Yuri grumbled.

“Hush now. Yuuri seemed like a very sweet man.” Oksana gushed.

“Wait.Yuuri as in _Mr. Katsuki_ ? Ugh _gross_ I really don’t want to hear about this anymore!” Yuri groaned, covering his ears. The last thing he wanted to imagine was his most tolerable teacher doing god knows what with the man who is practically his uncle. Yuri knew if he heard any more he wouldn’t ever be able to look at Mr. Katsuki the same way ever again. Unfortunately, his grandmother didn’t have the same mindset.

“I’m just glad Vitya’s finally found someone to make him happy. He’s been alone for so long. His poor mother, god rest her soul, would roll over in her grave if she knew Vitya’s most stable relationship as of late has been with those damn books of his.” Oksana continued to gush. Yuri hummed non-committedly, hoping for a change in subject. He _really_ did not want to be talking about Victor’s love life with his history teacher with his grandmother.

“Maybe Victor will be less annoying now that has someone else to bother.” Yuri grumbled more to himself but his grandmother heard anyway and gave him a stern look.

“Yurotchka, I will have those two over for dinner if it’s the last thing I do and you _will_ be on your best behavior. I will not let you scare off the one hope I have for having great grandchildren while I’m still a youthful spring chicken.” Oksana warned. Yuri had to choke back a scoff which earned him another stern look. “Not a word Yuri Mikhailovich Plisetsky.” She said with a sharp wag of her finger.

Yuri shrugged, grabbed a pen from under the desk and trudged back to their miniscule back room. He’d rather spend his afternoon doing inventory in the cramped glorified coat closet that was their backstock room than to continue on with this conversation.

Yuri went through the motions of his daily duties until he had to go back onto the floor so that his grandmother could go in the office to do paperwork. Tonight ended up being slower than usual. Yuri would go twenty, thirty, minutes without greeting any customers. As the night wore on the gap between customers widened.

Yuuri was flipping through one of the many imported Russian magazines they had for sale about an hour and a half before closing when the front door dinged, alerting him to a customer. Without bothering to look up from the magazine, Yuri regurgitated a customary greeting.  

“Welcome to Oksana’s -” Yuri started, stopping when his bored gaze landed on a familiar face standing by the door. “What are you doing here?” He grumbled at the leather clad classmate.

“I’m looking for a book.” Otabek replied curtly. Of course Otabek would come to his grandmother’s bookshop looking for a book. Why else would he be there? Yuri felt a twinge of embarrassment but he quickly squashed it down.  

“Whatever.” Yuri huffed definitely. “The Russian shit is on the back wall.” He said bringing his attention back to the magazine and pointing towards the back of the store. Yuri glanced back up when Otabek didn’t move.

“I’m actually looking for a book that isn’t sold in Kazakhstan.” Otabek corrected. Yuri rolled his eyes and closed the magazine.

“What book?” Yuri sighed in a painfully bored tone, getting up from his seat behind the counter to get the damn book himself.

Otabek gave him the book's title, a dry historical nonfiction novel that Yuri couldn’t ever see himself reading. As it turned out they had the book in stock. Yuri retrieved the book for Otabek and rung up his order with minimal words exchanged between the two.

As Otabek was leaving the store, purchase in hand, he turned back to Yuri.

“See you in class, Yuri.” Otabek said before stepping out of the shop and walked down the street out of sight.

“Who was that young man?” Yuri’s grandmother asked. Yuri shrugged, going back to the magazine that had long since been abandoned.

“Just some guy I know.”

 

* * *

 

That Monday was an absolute shit storm for Yuuri. He’s not sure which planets aligned over the weekend or what phase the moon was in but his students were certainly in a strange mood. Whatever it was that set his students off, it was certainly wreaking havoc on his classroom.

In just his first period alone it took nearly twenty minutes to get his class settled down enough to start a lesson and even then he confiscated no less than five phones during the span of the class period, two of which belonged to the same student. Why this student had two phones in the first place was beyond him.

In his next period he caught students trying to cheat on a quiz by tapping morse code to each other on the desks. Yuuri had absolutely no words. Surely it must have taken them way more effort to learn morse code than it would have to just sit down and study for his quiz.

By the time lunch time rolled around Yuuri was more than ready for this day to end. To make matters worse, Victor had to cancel on their shared lunch/planning periods when he had to call an emergency English department meeting to work through some bureaucratic curriculum restrictions for the next year that the state had just passed. In what little time Victor could steal with Yuuri out in the hall between periods he complained that he had to practically rewrite the world literature curriculum when a considerable chunk of the books they had been teaching were banned by higher powers than any teacher could contend with. Now the English department was scrambling to find suitable replacement books that would still fulfill state curriculum requirements by the time Yakov needed curriculum changes submitted for the next school year.

In short, Victor’s day turned out to be going just as well as Yuuri’s.

After his planning period came to an end Yuuri stepped out of his classroom for monitor duty. He spared a glance towards Victor’s door across the hall to see it still closed and filled with exhausted English teachers. He supposed he was on his own for today.

That’s alright. How much trouble could students really get up to during the short transitionary period. Usually monitor duty meant spending an extra five minutes joking around with Victor. Yuuri could definitely do this alone for just one day.

Students bustled throughout the halls, the more dedicated studious ones headed straight to their next classes while the more sociable ones milled around by their friend’s lockers. By the time the warning bell rang, the halls _should_ have started to empty out but instead students started forming a small crowd down the hall around something that remained to be unseen by Yuuri. Yuuri sighed and started making his way down the hall to break up whatever (probably problematic) thing was happening.

“Hey JJ! Fuck off and leave him alone!” Yuuri heard Yurio shout as he got closer the the crowd. That alone was enough to have Yuuri rushing towards the growing crowd of students.

“What is he your _boyfriend_ or something?” JJ taunted, towering over Yurio who looked like was just about ready to murder the much larger football player. This was about to get _really_ bad.

“So what if I fucking was? It still wouldn’t be any of your goddamn fucking business you narcissistic homophobic meathead!” Yurio snarled. By this point Yuuri had made it to the crowd of students who were starting to egg them on. Some students had their phones out and were trying to record the fight while others were simply there to observe. Yuuri pushed his way through the crowd to try and stop this before it could escalate any further.

JJ threw his head back, laughed and reached out to ruffle Yurio’s hair, taunting him with kissing sounds. Yurio smacked his hand away, took a few steps back and tackled JJ to the ground at full force just as Yuuri broke through the crowd of students.

Before Yurio could land a punch to the antagonizing student, Yuuri wrapped his arms securely around Yurio’s shoulders, pinning his arms to his sides, and pulled him off the student.

“That’s enough! Calm down Yuri!” Yuuri shouted as Yurio kicked and shouted for Yuuri to let him go. Yuuri did his best to keep the seething teen under control while other teachers finally came to Yuuri’s aid to break up the crowd of students and send back them to their respective classes. Someone had called Yakov down and that got the lingering students to scatter pretty quickly.

Soon enough the only people in the hallway was Yuuri, Yakov, Yurio, JJ, and Minami (who it turns out Yurio had been defending in this particular scuffle). Everyone walked away from the altercation mostly unscathed but that didn’t mean Yakov wasn’t about to let every get off scot free. After Yuuri helped escort the offending parties to the principal’s office, Yakov released Yuuri to go back to his class while he handled the situation from his office.  

Yurio had been ordered to sit outside in one of the ageing reception chairs under the watchful eye of Sala, the school’s trusty (if not a little chatty) receptionist while Yakov read the riot act to JJ. Yurio’s eyes connected with Yuuri’s as he passed by.

“I didn’t do anything wrong. That fucker deserved what he got.” Yurio mumbled crossing his arms over his chest and sinking into the seat. Yuuri paused and sighed into his hand as his pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“Yuri . . .” Yuuri started to say but Minami sat up in his chair and stepped in to Yuri’s defense.

“Please Mr. Katsuki this isn’t Yuri’s fault! He was just trying to defend me. I would feel really bad if he got in trouble because of me.” Minami pleaded. 

“Look I’ll try to put in a good word for you two but Yuri, you really can’t go around lashing out on other people like that. Righteous or not.” Yuuri reprimanded. Yurio huffed and turned his attention to a framed color-faded piece of uninteresting office art. Clearly he had no response for Yuuri. “Well if either of you ever need to talk, my door is open.”

“Thanks Mr. Katsuki!” Minami smiled, the surly fighter sitting across from the boy remained silent. Yuuri frowned, feeling just a little bit helpless in this situation. Yuuri was at a loss of how he could get through to this kid. To be fair, that wasn’t exactly in his job description but he saw so much potential in Yurio. He would hate himself if he just sat on his hands and watched good kids fall prey to the system.

Maybe Victor would have a better idea on how to talk to Yurio . . .

“Bye Yuuri!” Sala called cheerfully, without ceasing the rapid clacks of her keyboard. Yuuri waved back with a halfhearted smile and ventured back to his classroom.

“Sorry I’m late. Let’s get class started, shall we?” Yuuri said, entering his classroom. The majority of his students turned to curiously watch him enter. A few of them turned and whispered behind their hands to their neighbors. What embellished story had developed in Yuuri’s absence, he had no idea and didn’t much care. All he really wanted right now was to start his lesson and get through this hellish day.

Once again Yuuri found himself in a situation where he struggled to regain control of his classroom but eventually he managed to settle them down just enough to start his lesson. Yuuri could still tell they were more preoccupied with the latest hot gossip of the fight rather than his lesson.

When Yuuri was finally alone at the end of the school day, he collapsed into his desk chair and let his head fall onto his desk.  

“Long day?” Victor asked, leaning casually on the doorframe of Yuuri’s classroom.

“You have no idea. I confiscated more phones today than I did all last year, caught students cheating via morse code, _morse code_ , and as a cherry on top of the shitty-day cake I had to break up a fight.” Yuuri complained.

“Wow. That has to be some sort of record. Worst workday on historical record.” Victor sympathized good-naturedly.

“Well it could have been worse.” Yuuri said.

“I can’t imagine how.” Victor said skeptically.

“I still have a job, don’t I?” Yuuri asked rhetorically. Victor thought for a moment before nodding in agreement.

“So who were the rebel rousers this time around?” Victor inquired, pushing himself off the doorframe and coming to sit on the edge of Yuuri’s desk.

“Yuri actually.” Yuuri answered. Victor’s casual smile fell from his lips into a deep frown, revealing frown lines that Yuuri rarely saw plague Victor’s face.

“Oh.” Victor frowned

“To his credit he was trying to do the right thing he just . . . didn’t apply himself correctly.” Yuuri explained

“What happened?” Victor asked.

“From what I understand JJ was bullying Minami and Yurio jumped to the poor kid’s defense. He knocked a football player twice his size to the ground just to defend someone else. I think his heart was in the right place but you know Yakov has a zero tolerance for fighting. I just hope he doesn’t get in too much trouble.” Yuuri frowned. Victor nodded and rubbed the back of his neck in frustration.

“Me too. Here I thought Yuri was making some progress. This is the longest he’s gone since any sort of major infraction.” Victor explained. Yuuri could practically feel Victor’s disappointment and frustration rolling off of him. Yuuri hated seeing Victor so upset. Yuuri reached out across the desk and gave Victor’s hand a reassuring squeeze.

“I’m going to fill out a statement for Yakov while everything is still fresh in my memory. Hopefully I can convince Yakov to go easy on him.” Yuuri reassured. “I’m going to try and sit down and talk with Yuri tomorrow. Just to see if everything’s alright with him, if that’s ok?”

“I don’t see how it could hurt. Lord knows he’d never listen to me.” Victor sighed. Yuuri patted the man’s hand reassuringly.

“Any tips for me?” Yuuri asked.

“You mean before you stick your head in the tiger’s mouth?” Victor chuckled, shaking his head. “Just treat him with the amount of respect that most people neglect to give him.” Victor offered.

“Thanks. I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.” Yuuri thanked gratefully.

“Hey Yuuri?” Victor asked, his eyes downcast, trained on the desk, and his thumb tracing small circles on the back of Yuuri’s hand.

“Yeah?” Yuuri answered.

“Do you want to get out of here?” Victor asks raising his free hand to point his thumb towards the door.

“God yes.” Yuuri sighs with relief. Nothing sounded more inviting than running away with Victor for the night. Victor pushed himself off of Yuuri’s desk. He walked behind Yuuri’s chair and wrapped his arms around Yuuri’s shoulders from behind, resting his chin on Yuuri’s shoulder

“My place? Takeout, shitty TV, a bottle of wine, and an adorable poodle to cuddle with?” Victor whispered softly.  Honestly, it’s like Victor’s read Yuuri’s mind. Before anything else though, Yuuri desperately needed to get out of his stuffy work clothes and into something more _lounging-around-with-your-boyfriend_ worthy.

“Sounds great.” Yuuri agreed. “Do you mind if I meet you there? I want to go back to my place, drop my things off and change into something more comfortable.” Yuuri explained.

“Yuuri! I’m scandalized! What sort of gentleman do you take me for?” Victor gasped scandalously, holding his hand over his heart. Yuuri rolled his eyes good-naturedly at Victor’s dramatics.

“I _meant_ after the shitty day I’ve had I really want to be in a pair of sweatpants as old as time and a hoodie that’s ceased to be functional but is just too comfortable to throw away. I just thought I would say it in a better way to protect your frail victorian sensibilities.” Yuuri shot back wryly.

“My hero.” Victor gushed holding his hands over his heart with an adorably soft look on his face. “So I’ll see you later then?” He affirmed.  

“Does seven work?” Yuuri asked.

“That’s perfect! It’ll give me enough time to sufficiently warn Makka that you’re coming over and give her the whole ‘you need to be on your best behavior’ speech.” Victor said.

“You’re such a good doggo papa.” Yuuri complimented smiling at this ridiculous man with warm fondness. The amount of love that Victor had for his pet warmed Yuuri’s heart.

Victor shrugged dismissively with proud smile on his lips, “I know this.” Victor agreed confidently. “Well, I’ll let you get back to work. I’ll see you later, _zolotse_.” Victor said, pressing a quick kiss to Yuuri’s temple before releasing the history teacher from his embrace.

The rest of Yuuri’s afternoon was spent dealing with the fallout of Yurio’s fight. Between filling out paperwork, meeting with Yakov, and getting all the other work done he normally had to finish, he didn’t end up leaving the school until about six pm, an hour before he was supposed to meet Victor at his place.

Yuuri rushed back to his place to change. Phichit had already settled himself in for the night. Currently, Yuuri’s roommate was in the living room in the process of documenting his hamsters wearing an assortment of tiny hats that he had bought on Amazon a couple of days ago.

“Hey Phichit, I’m going over to Victor’s tonight but there should be some leftover yakisoba in the fridge if you don’t feel like cooking.” Yuuri said poking his head around the corner from his room to inform Phichit after changing his clothes. Phichit looked up up from choosing an instagram filter for his cowboy hamster photoshoot.

“You’re going to Victor’s? At this hour? Yuuri that’s so dirty! You’re going to have to spill all the deets tomorrow.” Phichit gasped, scandalized.

“I’m not _staying_.” Yuuri insisted, throwing on his trusty, albeit faded Wayne State hoodie. Phichit remained unconvinced.

“Spicy. Hit it and quit it. I gotta say I didn’t peg you for that kind of guy but you and Victor are two consenting adults so whatever floats your consensual boats I guess.” He said with a shrug, turning his attention back to readjusting the santa hat on one of his hamsters to just the right angle.

“No! That’s not what I meant!” Yuuri cried, waving his hands frantically in protest. If the insinuation that Yuuri was going over to Victor’s for sex wasn’t enough to make Yuuri turn bright red then Phichit assuming he’d _leave_ afterwards had Yuuri so bright he’d rival a tomato.

“It’s fine dude, really. Victor’s objectively hot. I’d try to hit that on school nights too.” Phichit laughed.

“We’re not having sex. I just wanted - _we_ wanted a quiet night in so I’m going to his place and we’re just going to chill.” Yuuri tried to explain.

“ _Netflix and chill?_ ” Phichit teased. Yuuri internally groaned at his friend’s insistence to tease him. Yuuri kicked himself because he practically handed that one to Phichit.

“ _No_. Just takeout, wine, shitty TV, and a cute doggo.” Yuuri said. That all sounded innocent enough to Yuuri’s ears. He didn’t really understand why Phichit was being like this.

“And Victor.” Phichit corrected.

“And Victor.” Yuuri conceded

“All kidding aside, I know you don’t plan on doing anything your mother would bat an eyelash at but you have to admit you have a tendency to get yourself into situations you don’t plan to be in. Let me finish.” Phichit warned seeing Yuuri’s mouth was open mid-protest. “Just make sure you always have a safety plan alright? I know you’re taking things slow with Victor but if you two crazy kids get carried away it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.”

“Would it really help you sleep at night if I carried condoms and lube wherever I went?”

“Yes.” Phichit said, dead serious.

“Fine.” Yuuri sighed. “But I’m serious when I say we’re not doing anything tonight.”

“I know. I believe you but a prepared partner is a happy couple if you get my drift.” Phichit said with a light wink, breaking the previously heavy tone in the air.  

“Why are you like this?”

“Because you’re my best friend and I love you. Now go get some of that hot Russian ass!” Phichit wolf whistled. Yuuri rolled his eyes and made his escape to the door, all the while whistling and cheering for Yuuri on his way out.

On the way to Victor’s, Yuuri stopped to buy a bottle of wine for them to share. As he was heading to the check out he passed by the family planning section of the store. One glance down the aisle and Yuuri promptly snatched a box of condoms and lube off of the shelves, Phichit’s words of wisdom from before still ringing in his mind.

With his purchases in hand, Yuuri made his way back to his car and promptly shoved in the box of condoms and travel sized lube into the glovebox where he planned to completely ignore their existence until there was ever a moment he needed them. He didn’t plan on doing anything too hot and heavy with Victor, their relationship was still far too new and Yuuri didn’t even know if Victor even _wanted_ them to go that far but Phichit’s words got to him.

It never hurts to be prepared.

Yuuri stepped up to Victor’s front door and breathed out a sigh as he ran his fingers through the front of his hair. Feeling the long locks immediately immediately flop back over his face, Yuuri wondered whether he should have done something with his hair before coming over.

No, Yuuri shook his head.

Victor said himself that purpose of tonight it to unwind after a particularly shitty day. But, why then, does Yuuri always always get nervous flutters no matter the context of their ‘dates’? Would there ever be a day where Yuuri wasn’t left a fumbling mess around this adorably eccentric literature teacher?

Realizing he was just standing in front of Victor’s door like a fool, he knocked on the door with the recently purchased bottle of wine in hand. Victor promptly answered the door looking like he stepped out of a catalogue for designer loungewear, complete with poodle shaped house slippers. Makkachin wasn’t far behind Victor, trotting and sliding across the wood floor in her rush to meet Yuuri at the door.

“Yuuri!” Victor cried cheerfully, pulling Yuuri into a hug and closing the door behind him so that Yuuri had no escape from the apartment. “I was just about to order us some dinner.” He said, accenting his words with a quick peck to Yuuri’s cheek.

“I brought wine.” Yuuri offered, holding up the bottle between them. Victor stepped back to inspect the label but compensated for the additional space by intertwining their fingers together and pulling Yuuri further into the apartment.

“This looks divine.” Victor smiled. “I’m going to go put this on ice. Please make yourself at home.” He said gesturing towards the living room where it looked like Victor had a stack of essays on the coffee table that it looked like he had given up on grading in favor of the book that lay open on top of the stack.

Yuuri took his jacket off and hung it over the back of the couch before settling down into one of the cushions. Luckily he didn’t have to worry about how to occupy himself while he waited for Victor because Makkachin came bounding in from the kitchen to say hello to Yuuri properly. Yuuri patted her head and gave the sides of her stomach a healthy scratch for good measure.

“Hey girl. Did you miss me?” Yuuri whispered to the pup who wagged her tail eagerly in response to all the love Yuuri was lavishing her with.

“If I said she did, would you come over more often?” Victor asked coyly, striding into the room and settling himself on the seat beside Yuuri.

“Probably.” Yuuri shrugged, a teasing smile pulling at the sides of his lips. Victor sighed dramatically and suddenly curled his arms around Yuuri’s bicep and rested his chin wearily on Yuuri’s shoulder.

“Oh dearest Yuuri! Makkachin gets ever so forlorn when you leave her. She counts the days until she is blessed by the feeling of your soothing touch again. Walks cease to have adventure! Balls are unfetchable! Squirrels unchaseable! What is a car ride if you are not there to enjoy it with her? Makkachin drowns her sorrows in treats in the hopes that you will one day return to us.” Victor sighed, layering on the dramatics a little thick. Victor nuzzled his nose into the crook of Yuuri’s neck and held him tighter as if he believed if he held Yuuri tight enough he would never leave. Yuuri wasn’t exactly inclined to disagree with that logic.

“I’m starting to believe you have a supernatural talent for pulling dramatic prose out of your ass on a moment's notice.” Yuuri teased, poking Victor playfully in his side who giggled impulsively at his own ticklishness, a fact that Yuuri would store away for future use.

“What can I say? A master’s in English is no use to me unless I can use it to charm cute boys.” Victor shrugged.

“You see, I’m a level fifteen Cute Boy. I’m afraid I require a haiku to be charmed.” Yuuri teased. Victor sat up with bright excited smile lighting up his face.

“Oh a challenge! I see! Hold on. Give me a moment to think.” Victor said tapping his chin, deep in thought. When he finally landed on an idea he snapped his fingers enthusiastically and sat up in his seat. “Alright I’ve got one:”

“ _Makka loves Yuuri_

_More so than her own life blood_

_But I feel the same_ ”

Yuuri buried his head in his hands to avoid the bright flames of blush from showing on his cheeks. Victor, concerned about Yuuri’s reaction, leaned down and tried to get a good look at Yuuri’s face to gauge whether he had stepped too far. “Uh . . . Yuuri?” Victor prodded hesitantly.

“Level fifteen Cute Boy has been charmed.” Yuuri mumbled from behind his hands. Victor chuckled in relief and wrapped his arms around Yuuri’s shoulders and tucked his head into Yuuri’s warm neck.

“Does this mean I get to keep you?” Victor asked, his voice lowering to just above a whisper. Before Yuuri could even think of a suitable answer to that seemingly loaded question, his stomach roared loud enough for Makkachin to pick up her head from the corner where she had settled down to investigate the strange noise. Victor chuckled and pulled back from the hug but kept contact with both of Yuuri’s forearms. “Right. We should probably order some food. I’m sorry, I always seem to  get so absorbed in us when we’re together.”

“Don’t apologize about that, please.” Yuuri insisted finally looking up to meet Victor’s gaze. Victor smiled at Yuuri warmly and patted their joined hands once.

“I’m going to go find us some takeout menus, _zolotse._ ” Victor said with a quick peck to Yuuri’s cheek before rising from his spot and retreating into the kitchen to shuffle through his drawers in search of his takeout menu collection.

About forty five minutes later Yuuri and Victor found themselves curled up together on the couch watching some reality cooking competition while they waited for their food to be delivered. Victor had ordered from a local italian restaurant that had seemed to have good reviews on the internet. Yuuri originally insisted that he would be just as fine eating cheap pizza, after seeing some of the prices on the entrees, but Victor put his foot down arguing that tonight was technically still a date so he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to treat Yuuri like a king.

When the doorbell rang, signalling the arrival of their food, Victor got up to answer the door, insisting that Yuuri stay put. Makkachin was quick to hop up on the seat that Victor had vacated and curled up beside Yuuri. When Victor comes back with takeout bags in hand, Yuuri is fondly scratching the top of Makka’s head. Victor shoots his furry companion a disapproving look and she responds by turning her head into Yuuri’s laps so that she’s looking at Yuuri’s stomach.

“Sorry. She wouldn’t take no for an answer. Besides, how could I say no to this face?” Yuuri cooed, squishing Makka’s chubby cheeks between his hands. Makkachin panted happily and pushed her head further into Yuuri’s hands. Victor shook his head his head in disbelief but his smile betrayed his amusement. Victor disappeared into the kitchen muttering pouty Russian underneath his breath.

Dishes clattered in the other room as Victor transferred their dinner from the takeout containers to some plates and poured them both a glass of now-chilled wine. Victor came back to the living room, skillfully balancing the plates and glasses in his hands.

“I’m not sharing Yuuri with you. Get down.” Victor ordered in Makkachin’s direction.  Luckily Makka didn’t protest and begrudgingly got down to go lay down curled at Yuuri’s feet with a heavy sigh. Victor handed Yuuri a plate and a glass of wine before settling in by Yuuri’s side. “So what did I miss?”

“Gordan kicked the entire blue team out because Matt kept bringing up raw scallops and Giovanni crashed and burned royally on garnish.” Yuuri explained.

“Pft. Amateurs.” Victor scoffed, twirling some pasta onto his fork. Victor had ordered the chicken piccata whereas Yuuri played it safe ordered the restaurant's supposedly famous baked ziti. As soon as the lemon buttered pasta settled on Victor’s tongue, he let out a low moan. Before Yuuri could even begin to think any lewd thoughts Victor held out a fork full of his dinner for Yuuri to try.

“Yuuri! You have to try this! It’s just simply _divine._ ” Victor gushed. Yuuri hesitantly wrapped his lips around Victor’s offered sample and had to cover his mouth from letting out a similar pleased sound to Victor’s moan. The pasta was perfectly cooked and the sauce was absolutely indescribable as the light flavors of lemon danced with the salty tanginess of the capers.

“That’s amazing.” Yuuri agreed.

“Right?” Victor said taking another bite of his pasta capped with a chunk of chicken.

“Here. Try mine.” Yuuri insisted, holding out a forkful of baked ziti for Victor to try. He happily leaned closer to Yuuri and slid is lips over Yuuri’s fork to engulf the bite in his mouth. Victor slipped his eyes close and hummed pleasantly

“I can certainly see why they’re famous for their ziti. Then again I think just about anything would taste heavenly if you’re the one feeding it to me.” Victor said wiping a smear of red sauce from the corner of his mouth and delicately sucked the collected sauce off his finger. Although the act was very non-sexual, Yuuri found his body responded to the sight with a blazing fire. Yuuri was overcome with the urge to lick the sauce off of Victor’s fingers himself.

Yuuri distracted his quickly spiraling mind by turning his entire attention to his dinner. Luckily their conversation turned down less provocative avenues. When they both polished off their plates, Victor brought them out to his kitchen sink and topped off both their glasses before returning to join Yuuri on the couch. Victor tucked his feet underneath him and cuddled into Yuuri’s side, resting his head on Yuuri’s shoulder. Yuuri hesitated for a brief moment before he stretched his arm out and curled it around Victor’s shoulder. Now that they were both done eating, Makka took that as her cue that she could come back up on the couch. She curled up in the space next to Victor’s feet with her head laying across Victor’s lap.

A picture perfect family.

“This is nice.” Victor sighed blissfully as he absently stroked his fingers through Makka’s fur. “We should do this more often.” Victor suggested.

“This is just what I needed tonight. Thank you.” Yuuri thanked resting his cheek on the top of Victor’s head. Victor reached out with his free hand that wasn’t petting Makkachin and intertwined his fingers with Yuuri’s.

“No, thank _you_. It’s been a very long time since there’s been someone in my life that I’ve wanted to hold on to as much as I want to hold on to you. If nights like tonight is what it takes to make you happy, I will gladly do this whenever you need a night to breathe.” Victor promised.

“Thank you Victor. Really. I feel like the luckiest man in the world to be able to meet someone as wonderful and kind hearted as you.” Yuuri confessed.

“ _Yuuri!”_ Victor whined. “You’re going to make me cry.” He sniffled shielding his face into the sleeve of Yuuri’s hoodie.

“Don’t cry Victor!” Yuuri pleaded with an edge of panic to his voice. He certainly didn’t mean to make Victor cry.

“They’re happy tears, I promise.” Victor swore looking up at Yuuri with a watery smile. Yuuri smiled back and pressed a soft lingering kiss on Victor’s forehead.

Sometime later, without even realizing it, Victor and Yuuri fell asleep curled around each other still on the couch. Yuuri didn’t even realize he fell asleep until he woke up sometime during the middle of the night with neck pains from his awkward sleeping position. Victor was still peacefully sleeping stretched out across the couch with his head resting in Yuuri’s lap. Yuuri carded his fingers through Victor’s soft silver hair, taking a moment to appreciate this man’s ethereal moon bathed beauty.   

“Victor.” Yuuri whispered softly. Victor stirred in his sleep, nuzzled closer to Yuuri’s stomach and curled his arms around Yuuri’s waist. “Victor. I have to go home.” Yuuri continued gently, albeit a little louder.

“Stay.” Victor mumbled without opening his eyes, his voice heavy with sleep.

“Victor we have work in the morning.” Yuuri reminded him. Victor seemed unphased and cuddled closer to Yuuri.

“We’ll carpool. Go back to sleep Yuuri.” Victor mumbled sleepily. Yuuri sighed, realizing he was way too tired right now to argue any further and decidedly too exhausted to actually drive back to his own place. They only had a few hours before they had to be up for work and he was exhausted so Yuuri couldn’t think of any logical reasons why he _shouldn’t_ stay.

“Can we at least move into your bedroom? No offense but this couch isn’t doing my back any favors.” Yuuri asked, attempting to knead out the developing soreness in his lower back. Victor nodded sleepily in agreement but made no attempt to actually move. Yuuri gently poked and shook Victor’s shoulders. “Victor. Victor, come on let’s go to bed. _Victor_.” Yuuri called to no avail. Yuuri sighed impatiently and leaned down to play his final card to get Victor’s attention.

“ _Vitya.”_ Yuuri purred in Victor’s ear. Victor struggled not to smirk in his pretend sleep. Seeing as Yuuri had no other option, he slipped out from underneath Victor, bent down and in an amazing feat of early-morning strength tossed the aforementioned tall lanky man over his shoulder. Victor let out a surprised gasp and laughed in delight.

“Yuuri!” Victor giggled against Yuuri’s back.

“We’re going to bed whether you like it or not, sleeping beauty.” Yuuri said firmly as he readjusted Victor on his shoulder. Yuuri carried Victor to where he recalled the bedroom being from his last visit.

“If you wanted to bed me, you could have just asked.” Victor teased, playfully pinching Yuuri’s ass. Yuuri practically leapt out of his skin in surprise.

‘ _Did he . . . did he just pinch my ass?’_ Yuuri wondered. He carefully set Victor down on the bed and the man had the most devilish grin gracing his lips. Before Yuuri had the time to brace himself Victor wrapped his arms around Yuuri and pulled him down into the bed on top of him. Yuuri fell onto Victor landing with his face on Victor’s chest. Victor continued holding onto Yuuri, refusing to let him go.

“Mmmm . . . You should sleep over more often. My bed is so much more comfy with you in it.” Victor said, snuggling into Yuuri.

“If it’s as comfy as you claim then you should already be sleeping.” Yuuri sassed, trying to settle back into sleep. Victor hummed affirmatively and slotted himself so that he was spooning Yuuri. After a few minutes Victor was softly snoring against Yuuri’s back and Yuuri easily fell back asleep.

Yuuri slept better than he had in a very long time and didn’t wake up until he and Victor’s alarms were going off in the morning. Yuuri cracked his eye open just long enough to press the snooze button on his phone’s alarm.

Victor shifted in his sleep and tightened his arms around Yuuri. Yuuri turned himself around so that he could snuggle into Victor’s chest.

“Mmmm . . . good morning.” Victor croaked sleepily. “I could definitely get used to waking up like this.” Victor hummed. He tilted his head downward to give Yuuri a quick kiss and Yuuri couldn’t stop the giggle that escaped him when Victor’s morning stubble scratched at Yuuri’s skin.

“Victor! That tickles!” Yuuri laughed, gently pushing Victor’s face away from his.

“What does?” Victor asked innocently. “Oh, you mean this?” Victor then proceeded to rub his five o’clock shadow all over Yuuri, causing him to dissolve into fits of laughter as he tried to avoid Victor’s attacks.

“Victor! Go shave!” Yuuri cried, out of breath from laughing so hard. He continued to try and shove the persistent bearded man away while said man was still trying to pepper Yuuri with kisses. Makka woke up to the sounds of their commotion and joined in to help her papa give Yuuri all the kisses in the world. Together they were an unstoppable force. Yuuri begged for mercy between his giggles and Victor finally relented.

Then came the awkwardness in trying to coordinate their morning routines. Yuuri had the fortune of already being accustomed to living with a roommate but Victor however had been on his own before now. Victor graciously gave Yuuri first dibs at the shower while he made them breakfast.

Yuuri quickly showered with Victor’s shower but it wasn’t until he stepped out of the shower with a towel wrapped around his waist that Yuuri realized he didn’t have any clean clothes to change into. He never intended to stay the night so Yuuri resigns himself to putting on last night’s clothes and stopping at his place for more work appropriate clothes on his way to work. Yuuri was surprised to see that Victor had set aside fresh clothes for him on the bed. With a smile, Yuuri picked up the note resting on top of the white button up shirt.

‘ _I hope these fit you. They’re a little small on me but I never got around to returning them_.’

Yuuri puts on the offered clothes. Yuuri found that the clothes were a little baggy on him but they would do for today.

Smells of bacon and pancakes wafted into the bedroom that drew Yuuri into the kitchen where Victor was eating breakfast, reading glasses perched on his nose and a book in hand. Victor set his book down when Yuuri walked into the room.

“Did you find everything okay?” Victor asked.

“I did. Thank you for the clothes by the way. I’ll return them to you as soon as I can.” Yuuri thanked graciously. Victor waved him off dismissively.

“Don’t worry about it! Keep them!” Victor insisted. He pushed himself away from the table and scrubbed his hand across his silver scruff. “I’m going to go shower and shave, please help yourself to breakfast.” Vicor encouraged, leaning down and pressing a kiss to Yuuri’s cheek as he passed on his way to the bathroom.

“Thanks.” Yuuri smiled and just like that Victor was gone to get ready himself. Victor left Yuuri a plate of food and a steaming cup of coffee. Yuuri went straight for the for the coffee first, adding in the necessary cream and sugar that Victor so thoughtfully left on the counter for Yuuri to find. Makkachin trotted over and sat down in front of Yuuri as he sipped at his coffee.

“What is it Makka? Did Victor feed you yet?” Yuuri glanced over at Makka’s food bowl in the corner to see that both her food and water dish were full. Makka lay down obediently at Yuuri’s feet and let out a sad whine, her gaze shifting to the pan of bacon that was sitting on the counter just to Yuuri’s left. “Oh! You want this?” Yuuri asked, tearing a small piece off a strip of bacon. Makkachin sat up, giving Yuuri her full undivided attention.

“Alright, alright. Just don’t tell your papa. It can be our little secret.” Yuuri whispered secretively, tossing the treat the dog’s way. With Makkachin now satisfied, Yuuri sat down and ate his own breakfast, absently scrolling through his social media feeds when he received a few rapid fire texts from Phichit.  

_‘Are you coming home this morning or has Victor murdered you? If you both don’t show up for class I’m going to assume you’re dead, he’s ditched town, and I’m calling the police. ~ P.’_

_‘Alternatively: the sex was insane and you two need a day to recover. ~ P.’_

_‘Either way text me if you’re alive. ~P.’_

Yuuri shook his head at his friend’s dramatics and texted back a response as he absently chewed on a piece of bacon. Makka stared at Yuuri in rapt attention.

_‘I’m alive. Sorry I didn’t come home last night. We fell asleep. ~ Y.’_

_‘Is that what the kids are calling it nowadays? ~ P.’_

‘ _I’m blocking you. ~ Y.’_

_‘How big is he? ~ P.’_

_‘Blocked. ~ Y.’_

_“_ What’s with the frown?” Victor asked leaning against the wall across from where Yuuri was sitting. Yuuri’s head snapped up and he shoved his phone into his pocket. Yuuri hadn’t even heard him come into the room but Victor was now clean shaven and put together for the day of work ahead of them.

“I-it’s nothing.” Yuuri stuttered. “Just Phichit making sure I’m still alive.”

“I hope he wasn’t too worried.” Victor commented as he pushed himself off of the wall. Victor walked over to the counter and poured the remaining contents of the coffee pot and his unfinished mug into a thermos that he pulled down from the cupboard. “I swear it was never my intention to hold you hostage last night.” Victor swore, walking over to Yuuri and leaning down to press a sweet kiss to the history teacher’s lips. Yuuri’s hand trailed up and cupped Victor’s now-smooth jaw, reveling in the feeling of Victor’s skin against his.

“I doubt he was genuinely worried. He likes to tease and I’m usually his easiest target.” Yuuri explained when they finally pulled away from each other. Victor leaned back and hummed softly, sipping from his thermos with a comfortable smile playing at the corners of his lips.

“Either way it’s sweet of him to worry.” Victor shrugged.

“I suppose . . .” Yuuri trailed off. Victor glanced down at his watch and balked at the time.

“We should get going or we’ll be late for our classes.” Victor sighed, not ready for this blissfully domestic morning to end just yet.

Unfortunately this is where the happy couple had to part ways for the morning. As much as Yuuri would have loved to take up Victor’s suggestion to carpool, Yuuri had left his work bag back at his own place and he knew if he had to come back after school for his car, he might never leave. It’s really for the best that they went their separate ways.

Phichit was already gone when Yuuri made it back to their shared place. Yuuri was only there for a few minutes in order to grab his bag and then was quickly on his way to work.

He arrived at the school a bit later than he normally would like to but still had plenty of time to set his classroom up for the day’s lessons. Sadly, Yuuri didn’t get to see Victor again before the students started arriving. Perhaps it was better that way. It would certainly force them to respect the line between work and their love life that they had been dangerously flirting with for the past couple of weeks. Yuuri had always prided himself on his work ethic and professionalism but something about Victor made Yuuri want to forget everything around him. If being with Victor wasn’t so liberating, Yuuri would have been downright terrified of the foreign feelings that swelled within him whenever he caught a passing glimpse of his boyfriend in the hallway or when he gets lost in the soft rhythm of his accent or when his cheeks flushed with a delicate pink tint over a romantic candlelit dinner.

Yuuri cares for Victor with all his being and quite honestly it terrifies him a little.

Yuuri didn’t have too much time to stew in his own head because one of his students walked in looking for help on one of his upcoming tests. For the sake of his student, Yuuri pushed all thoughts of the sweet, dorky, English teacher from his mind. He was here to help the kids, everything else could be put on hold.

Yuuri’s morning classes went along much more smoothly than the previous day. No morse code cheaters, no fights, virtually no problems whatsoever other than the light bulb in the Smartboard in Yuuri’s classroom starting to show the first signs of an early death. Yuuri was thankful that the day was going so smoothly because he isn’t sure If he could have handled a second hell day after the day prior.

Even the situation with Yurio seemed to have worked itself out smoothly. JJ and Yurio both received three days of in school suspension supervised by Yuuri’s own imposing department head, Lilia Baronovskaya, as well as a very strict warning from Principal Feltsman that if anything like this were to ever happen again they would both be expelled. Minami was spared from punishment as he was more or less determined to be an innocent bystander in all of this. JJ’s football coach threw a fit that their star player would be forced to sit out on the big game against their school’s rival this upcoming Friday, per Yakov demands, but coach Alain was quickly silenced by one of Yakov’s ‘dare to defy me and you’ll _see_ what true anger looks like’ looks. Really it could have been a lot worse for the students involved but Yuuri was just glad that the whole ordeal was considerable less bloodless than he had expected.

All this did mean that Yurio would have to work on his assignments under silent supervision in a meeting room located in the school’s office for the duration of his and JJ’s punishment. Yurio was released from the room when the lunch bell rang and escorted by Lilia to collect his afternoon work from his teachers as well as stretch his legs for a bit.

When the pair walked into Yuuri’s classroom wearing matching scowls, Yuuri handed his modified assignments over to Yuri and gave Lilia a friendly smile. It’s taken some time but he and Lilia are starting to warm up to each other. Yuuri supposes he must have proven himself in some way as a fellow colleague to earn her rare mild tolerance. Of course the past two months of work could easily go to waste in short order.

“Ms. Baronovskaya, would you mind if I borrowed Yuri for a moment?” Yuuri asked. Yurio rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest but otherwise didn’t protest. Lilia arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow but didn’t downright refuse Yuuri’s request.

“He’s all yours but make it quick.” Lilia replied curtly and stepped out of Yuuri’s classroom, closing the door behind her. Yurio huffed but strode over and lifted himself to sit on top of Yuuri’s desk.

“What’s up?” Yurio asked with casual boredom in his tone.

“I just wanted to see if you’re alright.” Yuuri assured. Yurio scoffed and lifted his hand to examine his cuticles, as if he’d rather be anywhere but here.

“I’m fine.” He said with an distinct edge to his voice. Yuuri took a mental step back and decided to approach this situation with degree of caution. He’d built up an amicable relationship with his troubled student and the last thing he wanted to do was ruin all that progress.

“I’m not going to force you to talk to me, Yuri. I just wanted to make it clear that my door is always open if you ever want to talk.” Yuuri said. Yurio crossed his arms and didn’t respond. “I promise you that nothing we talk about will leave this room.”

“You won’t blab to Victor, will you?” Yurio mumbled. He picked up a blank post it note that was sitting on Yuuri’s desk and started to absently tear at the edges.

“You have my word.” Yuuri swore. Silence fell between them as Yuuri waited for Yurio to take lead in the conversation.  

“I don’t regret a thing, you know. JJ got what he had coming to him.” Yurio eventually grumbled, his eyes trained to the paper he was slowly pulling apart, piece by little piece.

“Why do you say that? Why did you do it Yuri?” Yuuri asked.

“The things he was saying really ticked me off alright? So what if that guy likes to suck face with other dudes? Even if it was true, It’s none of JJ’s fucking business.” Yurio scowled.

“Does that . . . strike a nerve for you?” Yuuri asked cautiously, trying to dissect what was going on in Yurio’s mind.

“Why doesn’t it bother _you_ ? You’re the one making those gross faces with my uncle.” Yurio cried accusingly. Yuuri sat back in his chair and blinked in confusion. Uncle? He wasn’t . . . _oh._

“Wait - your uncle? Do you mean Victor? I . . . had no idea you were related.” Yuuri said, a little dumbfounded that it took him so long to realize between the English teacher’s close relationship with the surly student and the fact that the boy had a job working in Oksana’s shop. Yuuri was the slightest bit annoyed at Victor because surely this should have come up by now. Just a simple ‘ _Hey Yuuri, just fyi, you’re my nephew’s history teacher. No biggie just don’t fuck it up.’_ would have sufficed.

“We’re not. It’s complicated - but don’t you dare play dumb and change the subject!” Yurio scowled. Yurio leaned back slightly when he realized that Yuuri was genuinely confused.  “Wait . . . he really hasn’t told you has he? Shit.Victor’s a fucking dumbass.” Yurio laughed humorlessly.

“Family aside, you can’t let people get under your skin like that, Yuri.” Yuuri chastised, bringing bringing the conversation back to the topic at hand. He could deal with his forgetful boyfriend later.

“What was I supposed to do? Just sit on my fucking hands and let it happen? How can you say that?” Yurio pushing himself off Yuuri’s desk. Yurio was red faced and fuming. Yuuri needed to choose his next words very carefully.

“Yuri, I’m almost thirty and I’ve seen my fair share of homophobia in my life. It’s not something that is going to go away anytime too soon, I know that. I decided a long time ago that I would much rather use my energy caring for my loved ones than chase around an endless string of negativity. If history has taught me anything it’s that violence only ever breeds more violence, Yuri. If they hate me or Victor or Minami or anyone for who we love then that’s on them. I’m not going to lose any sleep at night over a few harsh words or slurs.” Yuuri explains before sighing and rubbing the headache that was beginning to ache against his temples. “What I’m trying to say is that, god forbid, if this sort of thing happens again, please get a teacher instead of going in fists blazing. If you respond with violence you are only lowering yourself to their level and that benefits no one. It’s far more honorable to cut with words and logic than it is with uncalculated action. I know you’re a good person Yuri. You have a good heart but you need to utilize the self restraint I know you have in you.” Yuuri encouraged. Yurio let out a resigned sigh and let his hands fall to his sides.

“I’ll try.” Yurio mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest once again. Yuuri figured that was the best that he was going to get out of the student.

“You should get back now before Ms. Baranovskaya has my head.” Yuuri said, glancing at the clock. They had been talking longer than he thought they had. Yurio grabbed his assignments off Yuuri’s desk and started towards the door. He paused with his hand on the door and turned his head back towards Yuuri.

“You’re ok, Katsuki.” Yurio conceded before turning the door handle and leaving to go back to Lilia’s hawkeyed supervision.

As soon as the boy was gone, Yuuri leaned back in his chair and let out an exhausted sigh.

What a mess.

No one ever said that teaching would be an easy job. If they did, it was safe to say they didn’t know shit about half of what teachers did for the sake of their students.

Yuuri was mentally and emotionally exhausted and it was only lunch. As if he sensed Yuuri’s exhaustion, Victor knocked on Yuuri’s door and poked his head in without waiting for Yuuri to call him in.

“Hey, Lilia and Yurio just stopped by my room. Given the look on your face, I’m assuming you had a chat with our little fighter?” Victor asked, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. Victor strode over to Yuuri, leaned down and pressed a quick greeting kiss to Yuuri’s lips which he happily returned.

“Yeah, we talked. Everything’s sorted out.” Yuuri said. Victor raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“Oh?” Victor inquired curiously. Yuuri wasn’t having any of it.

“Hey, why didn’t you ever tell me that you and Yurio were related?” Yuuri asked.

“It never came up?” Victor shrugged, the sentence coming out more like a question than an actual statement.

“Is that really your excuse?” Yuuri asked.

“I’m sorry, Yuuri. I know it sounds bad but it really did slip my mind. My family is a bit complicated to say the least but yes for all intents and purposes I’m Yurio’s uncle.” Victor said, softly rubbing the sides of Yuuri’s arms. “We can talk about this more later, alright? I promise.”

“Alright.” Yuuri nodded.

“So . . . what did you two talk about?” Victor asked, trying to sweetly pry a glimmer of information from Yuuri. Yuuri smirked and shook his head at Victor’s game. 

“Nope. I promised Yurio a safe space for him to talk and I’m standing by that.” Yuuri says, poking Victor’s chest. Victor pouts but drops the subject.

“Mean.” Victor pouted. “So Chris and I were talking and we were wondering if you and Phichit would like to get drinks with us after work tonight.” Victor asked before quickly adding on to his offer after seeing Yuuri’s skeptical expression. “And by ‘drinks’ I mean coffee while we all collectively complain about the bureaucracy. I can’t promise Chris won’t spike his own drink though.”

“That sounds great, actually.” Yuuri agreed.

“So it’s a date then?” Victor asked, giving Yuuri a conspiratorial wink.

“It’s a date.” Yuuri grinned.


	16. Chapter 16

“I’m free bitches.” Yurio said holding up both of his middle fingers in the air as soon as the final bell rang on his final day of ISS. No longer would he have to stay locked with Ms. Baranovskaya’s icy expression and infuriating habit of tapping nails against the desk while she no doubt caused student suffering with her stack of work. 

“Yuri.” A deep voice called from down the hall. Yuri turned around to see Otabek headed straight his way.

“Hey.” Yuri greeted casually. Otabek held out a stack of papers for him to take. Yuri stared down at them with suspicion but didn’t reach out to take them.

“It’s the math homework. I promised Mr. Lee I would give it to you if I saw you.” Otabek explained. That made Yuri want to take the stack of tree murder even less.

“You can keep it.” Yuri waved Otabek off. “Say you couldn’t find me or something. I don’t care.” He shrugged turning to head to the school’s main entrance. 

“That would be lying.” Otabek said easily keeping up with Yuri’s pace.

“So?” Yuri asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I don’t lie.” Otabek stated firmly. Yuri scoffed at the declaration. As if he were supposed to really believe that this kid was some sort of saint. Seeing how he wasn’t going to give up though, Yuri gave in and took the papers without any real intent to actually do the homework.

“Fine.” Yuri sighed, grabbing the homework and immediately shoving it carelessly into his bag.

When the fuck was trigonometry supposed to apply to the real world anyway?

“Here’s my number.” Otabek said handing Yuri a slip of paper with enough digits to make a complete phone number. Yuri looked down at the number with a perplexed look. “You know if you need help or want me to text you pictures of my notes. You did miss a lot while you were gone.” He went on to explain, averting his eyes away from Yuri. 

_ Is he . . . Blushing? _

“Uh . . . Thanks.” Yuri said, sliding the number into his pocket much more carefully than he stowed the homework. 

“Have a good day Yuri.” Otabek said politely before walking off. 

‘ _ What a weirdo.’  _ Yuri thought as he stared as the leather clad student strode down the hall, crowds of students parting for the intimidating student

“Are you ready to go Yuri?” Victor asked coming up behind Yuri and clasping his hand on the teenager’s shoulder. Yuri immediately smacked his uncle’s hand away. 

“What’s it to you, old man?” Yuri growled. 

“Your babushka asked me to drop you off. She had a last minute meeting with a supplier at the shop. What’s gotten you into sour mood?”

“Nothing. Just shitty math homework.” Yuri shrugged.

“Ah.” Victor said as if he didn’t believe him but thankfully he didn’t prod.”I was bad at it too.” Victor sympathized, earning him a ghost of a smirk from Yuri. 

They walked to Victor’s car in silence and when they reached it Yuri threw his bag in the backseat and slumped down into the passenger’s seat. Victor followed soon after but hesitated in starting the car, instead he searched Yuri’s face for something, his expression unreadable. 

“What are you looking at?” Yuri bit.

“Let’s go get ice cream.” Victor suggested out of the blue. 

“Do I look five to you?” Yuri scoffed. 

“Do you want ice cream or not?” Victor sighed, clearly not in the mood for Yuri’s attitude today. 

“Fine.” Yuri sighed. “But I get two scoops!”

“You’ll get one and be grateful or I’ll ship you back to Russia and you can wait in the breadlines to get your second scoop.” Victor warned, finally starting the car. 

“That’s bullshit. You weren’t even old enough to remember living in the Soviet Union. Don’t give me that stupid communist crap!” Yuri argued. 

“Look who’s been paying attention in Yuuri’s class.” Victor teased, poking a finger into Yurio’s shoulder as he pulled out of the parking lot in the direction of their family’s favorite ice cream shop.

While Yuri found them a seat at a secluded picnic table in the shade, Victor ordered himself a scoop of cookie dough and got Yurio two scoops of the most chocolate packed flavor that they had available. 

“So what do you want?” Yuri asked, digging into his ice cream. 

“Can’t a man take his nephew out for ice cream without having an ulterior motive?” Victor defended himself. 

“Maybe other uncles can but you sure as hell aren’t one of them.” Yuri accused. Victor held his hand over his heart and mock fainted onto Yuri.

“You’ve wounded me. What am I supposed to do with my #1 Uncle mug now? I am a disgrace to gay uncles everywhere.” Victor dramatically bemoaned. Yuri shoved Victor away from him.

“Get off me, old man.” He grumbled.

“Fine, fine. But I’ll have you now that my pride has been utterly obliterated.” 

“You’ll get over it. Go bother your stupid boyfriend. He’ll stroke your ego back to normal in no time.” Yuri teased. 

“ _ Yuri. _ ” Victor pouted.

“Where is the loser anyway? You’ve been hanging off of him for months.” Yuri grumbled, shoveling a large chocolate covered spoonful into his mouth. Melted ice cream stained the corner of the teen’s lips. Victor was feeling a bit spiteful so he didn’t tell him.

“Contrary to what you believe Yuuri and I _ do _ have lives outside of each other.”

“ _ Really _ ? I would have never guessed.” Yuri gasped in mock surprise, completely unaware of the chocolate stain on the corner of his mouth. Victor narrowed his eyes at the teen and huffed indignantly. 

He’ll figure it out eventually. 

“Just you wait. When you fall in love one day, I’ll remember this day.” Victor warned. 

“You can’t even remember what you had for breakfast this morning, old man.” Yuri taunted. 

“I have access to your baby photos and I will not hesitate, Yuri Plisetsky.” Victor threatened, narrowing his eyes in warning at the teen. 

“You. Wouldn’t.  _ Dare _ .” Yuri hissed. 

“Watch me.” Victor raised an eyebrow. “I babysat you for  _ years _ . I have plenty of ammunition that your mother and grandmother don’t even have. I would recommend not testing me.” Victor cheerfully said in a low I-will-fucking-do-it voice.

“If you do I’ll show your stupid boyfriend that picture where you took scissors to your hair during your hairstylist phase. You know the one where your giant foreheads casts a shadow on all of Russia?” Yuri shot back. Victor knew exactly which one Yuri was talking about and he had sworn Oksana to secrecy. That photo will never see the light of day and Victor will see to it that it remains that way

“Truce then?” Victor asked offering his hand to seal the pact. Yuri took his hand and shook Victor’s hand.

“I promise nothing.” Yuri swore. 

“Then we understand we are both in an era of mutually assured destruction then?” Victor clarified, tightening his hand around Yuri’s.

“You’re Russian. I would have thought you’d understand the terms of a cold war without having to fucking spell it out. You embarrass me, I’ll give your boyfriend every embarrassing photo that exists of you.” Yuri threatened. 

“I’ll burn them.” Victor pointed out, exposing the logic in his nephew’s strategy. 

“I have scans, asshole.” Yuri shot back. They glared at each other, sizing one another up until Victor finally relented.

“Hmph. Well played, Plisetsky.” Victor conceded, go back to his rapidly melting cookie dough ice cream. 

“You didn’t answer my question.” Yuri stated. Victor gave him a questioning look and the teen rolled his eyes at his uncle’s goldfish memory. “Where is  _ Mr. Katsuki _ anyway?” Yuri repeated, clearly annoyed. 

“Oh. Yuuri has some grading to get done and he’s preparing for a teaching conference that he’s going to next week.” Victor explained. 

Yuuri had come to Victor earlier in the week to cancel their plans for next weekend. He and Victor  _ had _ planned to head into the city for a weekend getaway filled with typical touristy adventures culminating in them going to the Russian ballet that was in town for the week. In true Victor fashion,  _ Yuuri _ forgot he had signed up for this conference months ago. 

It’s a shame really. Victor was really excited to spend the weekend with Yuuri, but he understood. Still, Victor wasn’t exactly looking forward to spending next weekend all alone. The rational part of Victor reminded him that some space is healthy in a relationship but the part of him that is utterly besotted by Yuuri is definitely in full pout mode. 

“So we’re going to have a sub next week?” Yuri asked. 

“Probably just on Friday. His conference is happening next weekend but he has to drive upstate on Friday to catch check in.” Victor sighed, resting his chin against his hand. He’s pouting, he knows he’s pouting. 

“You’re so pathetic.” Yuri rolled his eyes. “I thought you guys were supposed to go out of town that weekend.” 

“We  _ were _ . We’re cancelling it of course. We’ll go into the city some other weekend.” Victor frowned. 

“Didn’t you have tickets to a thing?” Yuri asked. Victor nodded and shoveled a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth to ease his disappointment. 

“The Russian ballet, yes. I think I still have time to get a refund and cancel our hotel reservations.” Victor answered. 

“Give them to me.” Yuri suggested. 

“You’re sixteen. You’re not going into the city alone.” Victor argued. 

“I’ll take Mama. She loves the city and the ballet. Who knows if . . .” Yuri reasoned, stopping short of where the sentence was leading. He didn’t want to think about  _ ifs _ right now. 

Victor didn’t need to hear the end of the sentence to know what the teenager was thinking about. He put a sympathetic hand on the teen’s shoulder. 

“I think it’s a good idea, Yurotchka. I’ll escort you two into the city myself. There’s some things I want to do on my own so that should give you two some quality time together.” Victor didn’t mention the fact that Mama’s facility would want an adult chaperon to keep an eye on her in case her condition gets worse. 

Yuri would never admit it but he was grateful that Victor was in his life. 

“Thanks.” Yuri mumbled, pushing around a brownie chunk in his bowl. Silence fell between them and the two Russians simply enjoy the serenity of the small park around them. Couples walked hand in hand, people ran past them with their dogs, a young family is picnicking along the shore of the pond, the parents blissfully unaware that their toddler was waddling off in the chase of some ducks. It was a beautifully picturesque mid afternoon scene. 

Victor made a mental note to bring Yuuri and Makkachin back here sometime. 

“You know I’m mad at you.” Yuri said, breaking the silence. 

“What else is new?” Victor teased. 

“I’m serious!” Yurio defended. “I kind of liked Mr. Katsuki and then you had to go and ruin him!” Yuri complained. 

“What did I do?” Victor frowned. 

“You started dating him you idiot! He’s not just ‘Mr. Katsuki’ anymore. You just  _ had _ to go and make him ‘Yuuri, my uncle’s boyfriend’.” Yuri explained. 

“He’s still your teacher, Yuri.” Victor argued. 

“He’s really not though. Normal teachers don’t give a shit about me but he does and it’s all your fault.” Yuri accused. 

“Yuuri cares about all of his students. I have nothing to do with that. He didn’t even know we were family until recently.” Victor pointed out. Yuri eyed Victor with narrowed calculating eyes before sighing in defeat. 

“You’re bringing him to Thanksgiving aren’t you?” Yuri asked. 

“Absolutely.” Victor agreed without hesitation with a bright proud grin gracing his lips.

“Ugh that’s so weird! He’s my teacher man!” Yuri groaned. 

“Get used to it. If I have it my way Yuuri’s going to be around for a very long time.” Victor said, playfully ruffling his nephew’s hair. Yuri smacked his hand away with his trademark scowl. 

“Are you going to marry him or something?” Yuri asked tauntingly. 

“Maybe one day.” Victor shrugged, answering the teen’s question honestly. The teasing smile fell from the teen’s face and he regarded his uncle with a serious look.

“You really like him don’t you?” Yuri asked. 

“Yeah. I do.” Victor answered. Yuri let out a well meaning hum in response and turned his attention back out to the expanse of the park in front of them. His gaze turned down the paved path where a jogger was making his way down the path towards where they were sitting. Yuri’s eyes widened in recognition and he dove behind his uncle’s back for shelter. “Shit! Hide me!” Yuri hissed. 

Victor said nothing but as the young man approached he recognized the man to be none other than his student Otabek Altin. The teen paid them no mind and continued jogging with his headphones blasting music until he was out of sight further down the path. 

“Oh look it’s Otabek!” Victor said as soon as the boy was out of sight, just to mess with his teenage nephew. “Ota-” He started to call but was quickly silenced by Yuri’s hand over his mouth. 

“Shut. Up.” Yurio hissed, chancing a peek around Victor. “Is he gone?” 

Childishly, Victor licked the inside of Yuri’s palm to get him to release his hands from his mouth. As expected, the teen drew back his hand and recoiled in disgust. 

“Gross! Why did you do that you freak?” Yuri growled. 

“Keep your hands to yourself Yurotchka.” Victor scolded. “Why didn’t you want to say hi?” Victor asked. Yurio crossed his arms over his chest and returned to his normal seat next to Victor. 

“I don’t know him. We just sit next to each other in class. It’s no big deal.” Yuri said. 

“If it’s not such a big deal then why were you hiding?” Victor asked with a smug little grin that pissed Yuri off to no end. Yuri responded to his uncle with only a glare which made the man’s cocky smirk all the wider. 

“Shut up.” Yuri grimaced. 

“I didn’t say anything.” Victor innocently insisted, holding his hands up in defeat. 

“You know what you’re doing. Stop smiling like that.” Yuri commanded. 

“Stop smiling like what?” Victor grinned. 

“Like that.” Yurio pointed at Victor’s face accusingly. “Like you know everything in the goddamn world, and it’s a huge fucking secretive game to you. You’re wrong, okay?” Yuri ranted. Another male jogger passed by them with an ecstatic husky running by his side. Silence fell between the pair until no passersby were within ear shot. 

“Hey Victor?” Yuri approached, his voice losing the hard edge that usually accompanied his usual speech. The boy didn’t look at Victor, instead opting to stare at the brown dead patch of grass around the table that was surrounded by lush greenness.

“Yes?” Victor asked when the boy didn’t willingly offer a follow up question. 

“Can I ask you a question?” He asked. 

“No, Yuuri won’t curve your grade.” Victor answered jokingly.

“Don’t be stupid. That wasn’t what I was going to ask.” The teen scowled. Victor set aside his long finished cup of ice cream and turned to fully and openly face his nephew. 

“What is it?” Victor asked encouragingly. 

“How . . . how did you know that you were gay?” Yuri asked, completely taking Victor by surprise. 

“Oh.” Victor blinked in shock. “Well . . . I supposed a part of me has always known. It’s cheesy but true.” Victor explained. 

“Was there ever a moment where you, you know, just  _ knew _ ?” Yuri asked. Victor sighed and shifted in his seat to get more comfortable for the uncomfortable conversation that was bound to follow. 

“I had this girlfriend in high school -” Victor started before Yurio cut him off with a scoff. 

“Seriously?  _ You _ ? A girlfriend?” Yuri laughed in disbelief. Victor shot his nephew a disapproving look.

“Do you want to hear the story or not?” Victor asked. Yuri held his hands up in resignation, a silent promise not to interrupt again. 

“As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, I had a girlfriend in high school. It was the mid 2000s, I had long hair, a shaky sense of my own sexuality, and a bigger crush on Chad Michael Murray than my own girlfriend.” Victor said, painting the picture of the landscape of his formative years. To think there was a time where Victor was into men with frosted tips makes him shiver. The mid 2000s were a dark time indeed. 

“Who’s Chad Michael Murray?” Yuri asked. 

“Who is  _ Chad Michael Murray _ ?” Victor gasped, holding his pained heart. This kid was making him feel ancient. “One Tree Hill?” Victor asked. Yuri shook his head and shrugged. 

“God I’m getting old.” Victor whispered to himself shaking his head. 

“Are you going to continue the story or what?” Yuri asked.

“Fine, fine. I was young, sexually confused, it was a whole thing. I decided I would try giving being straight a shot just to see what all the hype was about. By that point I had suspected that I wasn’t quite the straightest ruler in the desk but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to experiment a little just to make sure.” Victor explained, sitting back a little in his seat. Yuri had started to absently pick and tear his styrofoam cup into tiny pieces. 

“So you got a girlfriend?” Yuri asked. 

“She came to  _ me. _ She was the type that had an off and on relationship with this one guy every couple of weeks so I figured it would be a short lived relationship. It was convenient for my purposes.” Victor shrugged. “It was around the time of junior prom when she asked me out. She had just broken up with her ex again and was looking for a quick rebound that would agree to be her date. I said yes.”

“You went to prom. With a . . .  _ girl? _ ” Yuri asked in disbelief.

“Why do you have to sound so surprised that there was once a time I was in the closet? Is it really that astounding?” Victor asked. 

“Well . . . yeah. You’ve always been so confident and sure of yourself. It’s hard to imagine you being something you’re not without you acting like a total whiny ass about it.” Yuri explained. 

“We were all self conscious teenagers once, Yurotchka. I’m no different.” Victor admitted. “High school is a terrible, insecure time. I’ll admit that it is perhaps a bit easier being openly gay in your generation. I do sort of envy you kids in that way. Would I ever repeat my high school years though? No.” 

“But you teach high school.” Yuri pointed out. 

“What can I say? I’m a masochist.” Victor shrugged. “I was going somewhere with my story . . . Oh right!” Victor said, turning the conversation back to his cringeworthy high school years. 

“Girlfriend. Prom. Right.” Victor nodded. “Even then I knew she was only dating me to make her ex boyfriend jealous. I’ll give her props though, it worked  _ extremely  _ well in her favor. She somehow managed to get her ex and his date to go to prom with us as a group. It included a lot of group dates leading up to it to try on tuxes and to take the girls dress shopping. She made it a whole thing. In the meantime though I developed a crush on her ex. He was so handsome, quarterback of the football team, homecoming king, the school’s darling really. It was hard  _ not  _ to like him.”

“I had no idea you had a thing for losers.” Yurio mocked. Victor poked the boy in the ribs. 

“Hey! I’ll have you know this magnificent boy had the sexiest frosted tips that I had ever seen. He was absolutely stunning by seventeen year old me standards.” Victor defended his younger self. 

“Frosted tips? Seriously?” Yuri scoffed. 

“It was the early 2000s! It was in style back then!” Victor defended. “If you don’t stop mocking my life choices I won’t tell you about my gay awakening.” Victor warned. Yuri rolled his eyes and motioned for his uncle to continue. 

“We got to prom and almost immediately my date ditched me to try and win her ex back. To her misfortune, he wasn’t having it this time around. She sulked for most of the night, my only escape was leaving to refill our glasses with clearly spiked punch. Her ex ran into me again at the drink table and we got to talking. The gym was fucking hot with all the young teenagers grinding against each other so we made our way outside and behind the building for some ‘fresh air’.” Victor said using air quotes. “We ended up making out underneath the bleachers until the football coach caught us, completely thinking that we were ‘taking weed’ instead of what we were actually doing. Probably in his mind, being caught with weed was better than being outed so I guess it worked out for the both of us.” 

“Did you guys actually have weed?” Yuri asked. 

“I made out with my girlfriend’s ex boyfriend and you want to know if we actually had pot?” Victor asked, shaking his head in disbelief. 

“Well did you?” The teen encouraged. 

“Yeah I think he had some in his pocket. No one got in trouble because like I said he was the school’s darling and his coach wasn’t about to lose his star player. It’s fucked up I know but he did complain to me later on that Coach made his life miserable during practice as punishment though . . . for the weed of course. We were both still deep in the closet. No one knew about us, he made absolute certain of that. But that’s another story.” Victor said shaking his head, willing away the less than pleasant memories about his first gay relationship. 

“Anyway, being under the bleachers with him, playing tonsil hockey -” Victor said. 

“Please don’t ever call it that again.” Yuri interrupted. Victor continued on without hesitation. 

“That was the first time I stopped and thought to myself ‘Yeah I’m really gay’.” Victor concluded. 

“So let me get this straight: A girl ‘used’ you to get her jock ex jealous, you take her to prom, and then end up stealing her ex and then made out with him underneath the bleachers.” Yuri recounted. 

“That sounds about right.” Victor nodded. 

“That’s so fucking metal.” Yuri laughed appreciatively. 

“Thanks?” Victor said more like a question than anything. He was a high school teacher. He tries to keep up with teenage lingo but sometimes Yuri leaves doubt as to whether he’s being complimented or not. “Why did you want to know all this?” Victor asked.

“No reason.” Yuri shrugged unconvincingly. Victor didn’t believe him one bit but he was willing to let the subject slide for now. “Can we go home now?” The teen asked, tossing his mangled ice cream cup into the nearby trash can. 

“Sure.” Victor said, doing the same. “Did you want to go see your mom before I dropped you off?” Victor asked. 

“Yeah.” Yuri said simply. 

Without needing any more encouragement Victor drove them to Nastasia’s hospice facility. It’s been far too long since Victor has been to visit Nastasia. Nastasia had always been like an older sister to him and he felt bad that he hasn’t made a greater effort to visit more often. Victor couldn’t even begin to imagine the pain and heartache that Yuri must be going through right now. 

“Can I help you?” The bored receptionist asked when the pair approached the welcome desk. 

“We’re here to visit Nastasia Plisetsky.” Victor offered pleasantly. The woman typed briefly on her computer before shifting her gaze back to the pair in front of her. 

“She’s not taking any visitors today.” She said. 

“What do you mean?” Yuri frowned. 

“She asked us to turn away any visitors today.” The nurse answered.

“But I’m her son!” Yuri argued. Victor placed a hand on Yuri’s shoulder to calm him. 

“Yuri please.” Victor whispered. “Can we inquire why she requested that she not have any visitors? That doesn’t sound like Nastasia.” Victor asked diplomatically. 

“You’d have to ask her doctor. I was just told to send away any visitors.” The receptionist explained. 

“Can we speak to her doctor?” Victor inquired. She sighed and pushed herself away from the comfort of her desk. 

“Wait here.” She commanded before walking down the hallway towards the cluster of doctor’s offices tucked in the far corner of the building. 

“Mama would never turn us away.” Yuri shook his head. 

“I know Yuri. We’ll get to the bottom of this.” Victor reassured. “There must be a perfectly reasonable explanation.” 

“What if-” Yuri started to say. 

“Let’s just wait to hear what the doctor says, okay?” Victor encouraged, stopping the dark thought in its tracks before it could be spoken out loud. 

“Yuri, Victor! It’s so nice to see you guys again.  I’m going to venture a guess and say that you’re here to see Nastasia?” Dr. Kokotovic greeted cheerfully. 

“Why can’t we see her Doc?” Yuri asked, getting straight to the point. 

“Let’s take this back to my office, shall we gentlemen?” Dr. Kokotovic encouraged gesturing the pair to follow her down the hallway. They followed behind the doctor and sat down in the offered seats in front of her desk. 

“What’s going on?” Yuuri demanded harshly. 

“Yuri!” Victor scolded. 

“No, it’s alright Victor. I should have called to inform you on the situation.” Dr. Kokotovic reassured. “Nastasia’s condition is . . . deteriorating much faster than we ever expected. We put her on some stronger medication that’s supposed to promote the retention of her cognitive functions but the past couple of days have been particularly bad for her. She’s having a hard time remembering staff members, friends, even where she is and why she’s here. We had a conversation this morning while she was lucid and she expressed to me that it would be best if she didn’t take any visitors for a while. She didn’t want to break Yuri’s heart if he came in and she wasn’t the mother he remembers.”

“I don’t care! I want to see my mom!” Yuri outburst. Victor put a hand on the teen’s shoulder, if only to keep him in his seat. Dr. Kokotovic sighed and nodded her head in resignation. 

“I know you do Yuri. I’m sorry but my hands are tied. I can pass along your sentiments to her when she’s feeling better but other than that there is nothing I can do. I know none of this is ideal but I’m afraid today just isn’t a good day. I’m sorry.” Dr. Kokotovic apologized genuinely. 

“I’m her son. Why doesn’t she want to see me anymore?” Yuri asked quietly, his watering eyes trained to the tile flooring. 

“Your mother loves you very much Yuri.” Dr. Kokotovic reassured. “There isn’t a day that goes by where she doesn’t tell me a story about you. She’s just worried how much her sickness is taking a toll on you. I think in her own way she was just trying to protect you.”

“I don’t want to be protected! I just want to spend time with my mom while I still can!” Yuri lashed out. To Dr. Kokotovic’s merit, she handled the angry teen with calm grace. 

“I know sweetie. We’ll get this sorted out with your mother soon. The last thing I want is to deny you both the relationship and closure you both need.” She reassured, putting a comforting hand over Yuri’s. Yuri retracted his hand and stood to his feet. 

“I’ll wait in the car.” Yuri mumbled, shoving his hands in his pocket and storming out before Victor even had the chance to stop him. Victor sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“I’m sorry you had to come all this way for nothing, Victor.” She apologized. 

“It’s fine. I just wanted to give him as many opportunities to spend time with his mother, you know?” Victor said. 

“Poor boy.” The doctor shook her head sadly. “I can’t imagine what it must be like to have to deal with losing his mother at such a young age.”

“Every day matters.” Victor agreed. “Say, I was wondering if I could take Nastasia away for the weekend so she and Yuri could spend some quality time together in a less morbid environment. No offence.”

“No offense taken.” Dr. Kokotovic reassured. “I think it would do them some good. Logistically though, it might be difficult. They would need a chaperone to keep her on top of her meds and to generally keep an eye on her condition.” 

“If it helps any, I was planning on accompanying them. I could keep a close eye on her and if you give me her medication schedule, I could make sure she gets everything on time.” Victor reassured. 

“We can talk more beforehand but I think I would be comfortable discharging her for the weekend. It will be good for her to spend more time with her son.” Dr. Kokotovic said. 

“Thank you Dr. Kokotovic. Words can’t begin to express how relieved I am that you are the doctor looking after my sister.” Victor said, standing up and reaching his hand out pleasantly. Dr. Kokotovic shook Victor’s hand with a warm smile. 

“Please, call me Leslie, Victor.”

“Leslie.” Victor nodded. “Thank you again. I need to go drive Yuri home but I’ll definitely be in touch about next weekend.” 

“Have a good afternoon!” Dr. Leslie called as Victor took his leave. 

“What took you so long?” Yuri grumbled when Victor finally slid into the driver’s seat of his car. 

“I was asking the doctor about next weekend.” Victor explained. 

“Are they going to let us go?” Yuri asked.

“Yes.” Victor answered. 

“Really?” Yuri asked with surprise shock in his voice. 

“Yes, really. Dr. Kokotovic thinks it will be good for her to get out for a little bit.” Victor said. 

“Hmph. I knew Leslie was chill.” Yuri huffed, the corner of his lip twitching upward.

“See? Not all adults are out to get you.” Victor teased. “Are you ready to go home?”

“Can I stay with you tonight?” Yuri asked. 

“Sure. Just text your babushka to let her know where you are.” Victor answered. 

* * *

“. . . And  _ then _ Colleen had the nerve to try and convince  _ me _ that Oscar Wilde’s _De Profundis_ wasn’t the biggest gay love letter of all time. Can you believe that?” Victor vented over his lunch. Yuuri nodded and hummed along with Victor’s story but he could tell that his boyfriend’s mind was elsewhere.

“Uh huh.” Yuuri nodded along, writing down some comments on the test he was grading. 

“And then we declared a duel to the pain. I won and her severed limbs now rest on a pike underneath the pride flag in my classroom to serve as a warning to all who may enter expecting to duel me on gay literature.” Victor went on, eyeing his distracted boyfriend expectantly. The horrors he was describing didn’t even register on Yuuri’s face. 

“That’s nice.” Yuuri commented. 

_ “Yuuri!”  _ Victor groaned and collapsed his head onto Yuuri’s arm. 

“Huh?” Yuuri frowned. 

“You’re distracted today, darling. Is there something on your mind?” Victor asked, absently running his thumb along the back of Yuuri’s hand. Yuuri looked down at their joined hands and gently patted Victor’s hand. 

“I’m fine. There’s just been a lot on my mind lately.”  Yuuri explained. 

“Tell me. As your boyfriend I want to make your life as comfortable as possible. You can vent to me, Yuuri. You know that right?” Victor assured. Yuuri glanced down again at their joined hands. Victor smiled warmly in expectation. 

“We’re . . . dating. Right?” Yuuri asked hesitantly.

“I will be utterly heartbroken if we’re not.” Victor chuckled. 

“That’s good.” Yuuri nodded to himself. “Can we lay down one small ground rule? Just one, I swear.”

“What’s wrong?” Victor frowned. Yuuri held Victor’s hand sighter as if he were worried that Victor might pull away. 

“Can we keep a separation between work and our personal life?” Yuuri asked. 

“Oh.” Victor blinked, suddenly very aware of his hand in Yuuri’s. He hadn't even consciously realized he had been holding Yuuri’s hand until this very moment. Victor released Yuuri’s hand, suddenly very self conscious of his own affectionate tendencies. 

The heartbroken look on Victor’s face stabbed at Yuuri’s hear. He felt a pang of regret for being the cause of that look on Victor’s face. Yuuri hurriedly chased Victor’s hands across the table and reclaimed his hold on him. 

“No, no, no!” Yuuri cried. He caught Victor’s hand in his and silently brought it up to press a quick kiss to the back of Victor’s hand. They were alone in Yuuri’s classroom eating lunch so Yuuri felt comfortable showing this small sign of affection for Victor if it meant relieving that hurt look on Victor’s face. “It’s not that I’m not proud being with you, because I am. I care for you  _ so much _ Victor. I just don’t want us to become gossip fodder around here. I’m sorry if you thought that meant I didn’t enjoy you touching me.” 

“So you  _ do _ like me being affectionate?” Victor clarified.

“Of course I do, Vitya.” Yuuri reassured. Victor grinned widely at Yuuri using his diminutive so casually. Yuuri could tell it was killing the poor man to not reach out and hug Yuuri. Yuuri chuckled and caved in, opening his arms out to invite Victor in a hug. Victor didn’t hesitate in diving into Yuuri’s open arms and wrapped his arms around Yuuri waist.

“I warn you, self control has never been my strongest quality.” Victor mumbled with his face buried his Yuuri’s chest. Yuuri laughed, gently combing his fingers through his boyfriend’s soft hair. 

“Then this will be good practice for you then.” Yuuri teased. Victor let out a halfhearted groan. 

“Why must you torture me like this?” Victor pouted. 

_ Because I love you. _

“Look at it this way: it makes every other moment that much more meaningful.” Yuuri said instead of the intrusive thought that slipped into his brain. Victor pursed his lips, making  his nose crinkle adorably at the effort. “Perhaps we’ll just have to go out on more dates to compensate.” Yuuri offered. 

That seemed to cheer Victor up some. 

“Be careful what you wish for  _ dorogoy _ . I don’t want you getting sick of me.” Victor warned, craning his head up closer to Yuuri’s as if he were leaning in for a kiss. 

“Never.” Yuuri promised, his heart thudding wildly against his chest. 

“Tonight then? My place? We can take Makka out to that dog park across town.” Victor suggested, his eyes sparkling with excitement. 

“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.” Yuuri agreed.

“Adorable dogs, a drop dead gorgeous boy by my side, what more can a man ask for?” Victor sighed happily, leaning back in the chair away from Yuuri’s personal space. Yuuri has to admit he’s only the slightest bit disappointed. 

“Oh, are you referring to me?” Yuuri asked arching his eyebrows. 

“Don’t even Yuuri Katsuki. You can’t  _ possibly _ not know how insanely good looking you are.” Victor shook his head. 

“Sorry?” Yuuri said but it came out more like a question than him actually being remorseful for his question. 

“No. Nope. I won’t believe it. How has no one told you how beautiful you are before now?” Victor asks incredulously. Yuuri shrugs, not really sure why Victor’s making such a big deal out of this. “That’s it. I’m going to remind you how beautiful you are every day until you see the light. This is a crime against humanity that must be rectified. This will be my life mission from now on.” Victor swore. 

“Good luck with that.” Yuuri smiled, shaking his head at his boyfriend’s ridiculousness. 

* * *

“Is it close?” Yuuri asks as they begin to walk hand in hand down the paved walking path.

“It’s further down this path a little ways.” Victor answers, gently swinging their joined hands. 

They walked for a ways just simply enjoying the peaceful walk. The leaves are just starting to turn with the coming of fall and birds chirped in the branches above. Other couples, families, and joggers passed them along the path but it didn’t matter because when Yuuri was with Victor it always seemed like they were in their own little bubble.  

Victor interrupted the silence with a question, “So if you could do anything, go anywhere in the world, where would you go?” 

Yuuri thought for a moment and bit his lip at the place that immediately popped into his mind. Victor immediately noticed Yuuri’s expression and smiled expectectantly. 

“What is it?” Victor encouraged

“Call me nerdy but -” Yuuri hesiated. 

“Ok you’re nerdy.” Victor shot back.  Yuuri rolls his eyes and playfully shoves Victor, which causes him to stumble just slightly between his laughter. 

“Calling the kettle black much? You know what, I’m not going to tell you now.” Yuuri stubbornly crossed his arms over his chest.

“Yuuri!” Victor pouts, pulling Yuuri into a hug. “I’m sorry Yuuri. You’re a very lovable nerd. I find it incredibly endearing. Will you please tell me?” Victor pleaded, batting those irresistibly long silver eyelashes.

Yuuri sighed and mumbled something under his breath that Victor couldn’t quite make out. “What was that, love?” Victor asked, leaning closer to Yuuri. 

“I want to go to Hogwarts.” Yuuri mumbled. 

“What?” Victor asked. 

“The filming site. There’s an actual castle in England that they filmed at for the first two movies and the cathedral they modeled the great hall after is in Oxford. I’m sorry it’s stupid and nerdy and -” Yuuri rambled on. Yuuri only ever admitted this to Phichit before and he was quickly feeling the heat of embarrassment rising to his cheeks. 

Victor cuts off all of Yuuri’s mounting worries with a kiss. Yuuri halted and melted into Victor’s embrace, his entire demeanor relaxing with his boyfriend’s clear acceptance. When Victor pulled away he cradled Yuuri’s face between his hands and bore impressions into his soul with his piercing blue eyes. 

“As a gay man I can tell you with extreme confidence that I haven’t set foot in a cathedral since before I could walk and even then my mother carried me in against my will but I would happily take you there if it means I could see you geek out about something you love.” Victor swore as if he were agreeing to lay down his life for Yuuri. 

“You would?” Yuuri asked. 

“Of course. Besides, I would probably be nerding out right there with you. I too had a Harry Potter phase.” Victor admitted with the gravity of sharing his deepest darkest secret.

“No! Really?” Yuuri asked genuinely surprised. He always pegged Victor as more of a classics man. Even imagining Victor as a child, all Yuuri could imagine was a young wide eyed Victor inhaling tome after dusty tome of books most children his age wouldn’t even think of picking up. Yuuri wouldn’t have been surprised if Victor came out of the womb with a collection of Gogol short stories in his hands.  

“What, did you think I was all Tolstoy, Hemingway, and Dostoevsky without a little Rowling thrown in somewhere?” Victor asked, holding his hand to his poor offended heart. 

“Ok point taken.” Yuuri conceded, holding his hands up in defeat. They continued walking down the path towards the dog park with Makka happily tugging them along. ”What would you do then, if you could do anything?” Yuuri asked. Victor looked over at Yuuri and slipped his hand back into Yuuri’s open palm. 

“I’d write a book.” Victor says without really hesitating. 

“That seems like a realistic dream. What’s stopping you?” Yuuri asked. 

“I suppose nothing really.” Victor shrugs. 

“Do you have an idea for your book?” Yuuri inquired. Victor glances over at Yuuri with satisfied warmth in his eyes.

“I think I do now.” Victor confessed. 

“What’s the idea?” Yuuri asked. 

”It’s silly.” Victor dismissed. Yuuri had never seen this part of Victor. Yuuri found this soft, shy, unsure, side of him as fascinating as it was endearing.  

“No, no, no, I told you about wanting to go to Hogwarts you have to tell me about your book idea.” Yuuri insisted, poking Victor in the ribs. Victor laughed nervously and rubbed the spot where Yuuri had jabbed him. 

“Fine! You win, I’ll tell you.” Victor caved, “Ever since I’ve met you I’ve been more inspired than I’ve ever been, Yuuri. I think I want to write a historical fiction novel about a homosexual king and his court lover.” Victor admitted, keeping his eyes downcast. Yuuri was taken aback. 

That wasn’t really what he was expecting. 

“Why that, if I may ask?” Yuuri questioned. 

“I was inspired by you, Yuuri. You do this thing where you rant about historians disregarding gay figures or blatantly choosing to interpret first hand documents in a way that erases their sexuality. You do it all the time and I think it’s incredibly fascinating.” 

“I don’t do that much do I?” Yuuri asks suddenly self conscious of sounding like a broken record. It’s true that is his biggest history pet peeve and he has been known to be able to rant about King James for hours but he didn’t think he did it  _ that  _ much. 

“You do.” Victor affirmed, “But I find it incredibly adorable. You get so passionate and there’s this fire in your eyes when you talk about it. I must admit that I’ve definitely brought up Eleanor Roosevelt a time or two just to set you off.”

“Oh my god.” Yuuri groaned, hanging his head in his hands. He was absolutely mortified. Victor chuckled and took Yuuri in his arms. 

“Don’t be embarrassed. You inspired me, just like you inspire your kids. I admit I wouldn’t have considered myself a history buff before meeting you but you have this unique talent of inspiring curiosity in people. The first time you talked about gay history I had only known you for a few days,” If he could, Yuuri would have buried his head even further into his hands in embarrassment “and that night I went home and spent all night researching King James and Leonardo Da Vinci and Eleanor Roosevelt and a million other historical figures I haven’t given a single thought to since high school. I started thinking about what it must have been like, to love someone with all your heart, to have everyone so against you but even if you have the nerve to live as openly as you dare some historian years later discredits all the struggle and love that goes into a relationship by dismissing your private love letters as simply as a correspondence between good friends.” Victor went on. 

“You’re starting to sound like me.” Yuuri mumbled against his hands. Victor reached up and guided Yuuri’s hands away from his cheeks. 

“That’s not a bad thing is it?”      

“I guess not.” Yuuri sighs. “Well for what it’s worth, it sounds like a book I would buy.” Yuuri assured. 

“Do you really think so or are you just saying that because you’re my boyfriend it’s your job to encourage me?” Victor asks. Yuuri shrugs casually.  

“History is more gay than historians like to let on. I’d love to see your perspective.” Yuuri admitted. Victor shoved his free hand in his pocket and kicked rock that dared to cross his path further down the trail. 

“I don’t know. It’s just an idea. It’s not like I have time to write it anyway.” Victor replied hesitantly. Yuuri hooks his elbow through Victor’s and rests his head on Victor’s shoulder. 

“For what it’s worth, I think you’d be an amazing writer.” Yuuri admitted. Victor looked down at Yuuri, smiled tenderly, and leaned down to press a soft kiss to Yuuri’s forehead. 

“Thanks, maybe one day.” Victor sighed. 

The couple continued down the path before them, led by their faithful furry companion. Once they reach the gates of the dog park, Makka was just about ready to riot and take off without them if Victor didn’t get her inside the metal gates immediately to meet her new doggo friends. As soon as they were in the de-leashing pen Makka was shaking in anticipation. 

Victor chuckled as he calmed Makkachin just long enough to unhook her from her lead. Yuuri opened up the gate leading to the dog park enclosure and Makka was off like a flash with no less than ten dogs following after her to say hello. 

While their dog daughter is off playing with the other dog children, Victor and Yuuri walk off to a picnic table located in a secluded corner of the enclosure. Victor pushes himself up on the table to sit on the top of the table with his feet firmly planted on the actual seat. Yuuri follows his lead and took his place beside Victor, overlooking the expanse of the dog park. 

“I wish they had places like this back in Hasetsu. I had a toy poodle when I was a kid and I know he would have loved to be able to run around freely like this.” Yuuri admitted. He could really just imagine his childhood dog trotting around happily with his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth.  Yuuri’s heart clenched ever so slightly at the memory of his own lovable poodle. He would have loved to meet Victor . . . 

“The dogs get a kick out of this place.” Victor smiles watching Makka and her gang of buddies chasing each other around. “Yuuri do you miss your family?” He asked. 

“All the time.” Yuuri answered immediately. 

“When was the last time you saw them?” Victor wondered. 

“It been a few years since I’ve been back but my parents and I video chat all the time. I think I want to go back soon, you know to visit. It’s been too long.” Yuuri admitted, clasping his hands in his lap. 

It wasn’t that Yuuri didn’t love his family it’s just . . . the memories were too much to bear. Once upon a time, the entire town relied on him to be the international skating star that he was never destined to be. When he went back to Hasetsu after his career ending injury he was hyper aware of all the pitying looks that the people in town gave him and could sense the bitter disappointment that followed him wherever he went. Yuuri’s family never pitied him but even still he felt he needed an escape so he left for America permanently and didn’t look back. 

A part of Yuuri felt overcome with guilt that it took this long for him to at least visit. Yuuri wanted to be a better son than this. He wasn’t the scared boy that he once was and now it was about time he started acting like it.

“You should go to see them, Yuuri. I’m sure they’d love to see you again.” Victor assured, pulling Yuuri out of his own thoughts. 

“Would you come with me? To visit my parents?” Yuuri blurted out without pausing to think. Victor’s eyes widened in shock and he blinked at Yuuri for several tense breathless moments.  

“You want me meet your parents?” Victor asked with a hint of disbelief in his voice. Yuuri wanted a hole to open up on top of the picnic table and swallow him whole. God damn him and his big mouth. 

“It’s too early isn’t it? Sorry, forget I said anything.” Yuuri apologized, shifting away from Victor to give him some space. His stomach felt like it had been filled with lead and was slowly sinking to his feet all the while his anxiety riddled mind taunted him for thinking Victor was as serious about this relationship as Yuuri was. 

Victor silenced Yuuri’s self destructive thoughts by taking his hand and pulling Yuuri back to his side,  “I’d love to meet your parents Yuuri.” He promised gently, raising Yuuri’s hand and tenderly kissing the back of his hand, washing away all of Yuuri’s worries in the process. Yuuri let out a relieved sigh and a nervous laugh, feeling a bit ridiculous for reacting as quickly and dramatically as he had. 

“Thanks.” Yuuri said rubbing the back of his neck, “Besides, I have no idea when I’ll actually be able to go so it might be a long way off.” 

“You should make time for your family Yuuri. Take it from me, you don’t want to come to regret not spending enough time with them.”  Victor advised. Yuuri sighed and nodded, knowing in his heart that Victor was right. 

“I know. I’m trying.” Yuuri assured, “So what about you? I imagine the Nikiforov extended family is a cast of characters.” 

“They probably would be if they existed.” Victor shrugged, shifted forward to rest his elbows on his knees, “I think I have some distant cousins in Russia but I’ve never met them. My parents died when I was a teenager and you’ve already met Oksana. I’m sure she’ll insist we join their family for the holidays. You’ll inevitably meet rest of my adoptive family soon enough.” 

“What about siblings?” Yuuri asked. 

“Yeah . . . I have -  _ had _ a sister.” Victor confessed, keeping his eyes trained to the ground. 

_ Oh. _

Yuuri paused hesitantly before beginning to ask the question on the tip of his tongue, “Did she . . .” He trailed off, suddenly unsure how to word what he wanted to ask. Luckily Victor seemed to get the gist of what was on Yuuri’s mind. 

“Oh! No, no, she’s still alive. I think she’s somewhere in Russia.” Victor said.

“Did you guys fight or. . .?” Yuuri prompted. 

Victor shook his head, “No, my parents . . . when they died, they were in Russia tying up loose ends from our life there. They brought my sister, Sanya, with them and she got tangled up in the adoption system after . . . everything.” Victor explained and paused for a moment before continuing, 

“I was supposed to be with them too but I caught chicken pox a few days before the flight and the airline understandably refused to board me. Mama wanted to cancel the trip but Oksana insisted that she could take care of me while they were away.” Victor remembered. Yuuri sat there in silence, taking in whatever Victor was willing to share with him but was surprised when he hunched over and hung his head in his hands. 

“Alexandra . . . Sanya . . .” Victor choked back a sob threatening his throat. Unsure of what else he could do to help his boyfriend, Yuuri wrapped his arm around Victor’s shoulders and gently rubbed his back soothingly. After a few minutes, Victor regained a firm grip on his emotions and he sat up, his expression considerably harder than Yuuri has seen in a long time. Victor stared silently out at the frolicking dogs, wiping away stray dampness from his red puffy eyes. 

“Sorry. I hate that you have to see me like this.” Victor frowns, wiping a stray tear off of his cheek. Yuuri brushed his thumbs across Victor’s damp cheeks and held him tight. Victor silently accepted Yuuri’s embrace and leaned into his boyfriend’s chest. 

“I don’t mind, Victor. You’ve been through a lot.” Yuuri reassured, brushing his fingers through Victor’s silver fringe. Victor smiled sadly but didn’t say anything else. Yuuri embraced him again and Victor was all too comfortable staying tucked underneath Yuuri’s chin. “Have you ever tried to find her?” Yuuri whispered into Victor’s jacket.

Victor nodded against Yuuri’s shoulder, “When I was eighteen I blew all the savings from my summer jobs to hire a PI. It was a dead end. Her adoption was closed and the Russian government was less than cooperative to an American investigator sticking his nose where it shouldn’t be.” Victor explained, his voice thick with emotion. Yuuri constricted his arms tighter around Victor comfortingly. 

“I’m sorry.” Yuuri sympathized. 

“It’s ok.” Victor whispered,  “Can we talk about something else? Please?” Victor asked, turning his head to look up at Yuuri. There was absolutely no way Yuuri could say no to Victor’s bloodshot eyes and tear stained, blotchy cheeks. 

“Ok” Yuuri agrees softly and looks around for a change of subject that would cheer Victor up. In such a magical scene as a dog park, Yuuri wasn’t in need of an idea for very long. “Oh! I’ve got it!”

“Yes?” Victor sniffled, sitting up a little bit straighter. 

“Victor, if you could take any of the dogs in the park home, which would you take?” Yuuri asked.  

“Are you suggesting we kidnap another person’s dog?” Victor asked, a hint of his normal carefree smile starting to return. 

“I’m not ruling it out.” Yuuri declared, “But don’t change the subject. Which one of these dogs are we kidnapping?” Yuuri asked with a completely straight face. Victor’s lips quirk ever so slightly and he looks around at all the dogs frolicking around the park before finding his choice of a furry victim. 

“That St. Bernard over there.” Victor points to where the large dog was playing tug with an industrial strength rope, a tiny Jack Russle Terrier was at the other end of the rope pulling with all his might on any part of the rope he could actually get his mouth around. The St. Bernard in question was large and fluffy with a shoestring of drool to complete the whole look.  “I want him to crush me with his cuddles.” Victor declared. 

“Is there such a thing as  _ too _ much dog?” Yuuri asked in concern. That dog would probably crush them both even if they could even manage to fit him and Makka in the backseat of Victor’s car to make their getaway. 

“There is no such thing as too much dog, Yuuri.” Victor proclaimed proudly. “Fine. If I can’t steal the St. Bernard who would you nab, Yuuri?” Victor asked, crossing his arms over his chest expectantly. 

Yuuri looks around the dog park to take in all of his options and he spies a dog rolling around in a particularly large and wet mud puddle. It’s fur was so caked in dirt and mud that Yuuri couldn’t quite make out the breed. All the other owners were very careful to keep their dog away from joining the trouble maker but apparently this dog’s owner wasn’t paying attention at the moment.   

That had to be the one. That was the dog they were going to theoretically smuggle out of this park. 

“That dirty boi over there looks like he’d be a fun troublemaker to have in the house.” Yuuri said pointing to the dog rolling around in the puddle. Victor let out a rather undignified snort at Yuuri’s dog of choice’s appearance.

“I don’t regret the owner who has to clean that - Oh my god.” Victor’s face dropped and paled in horror at some unforeseen realization. 

“Victor, what is it?” Yuuri asked, putting his hand on Victor’s shoulder in concern. 

“Yuuri! That’s Makka!” Victor cried, pointing at the muddy dog before leaping off the top of the picnic table and sprinting towards the mud caked dog. 

“What?” Yuuri called after him, extremely confused as to what had just happened. 

“Makka got in the mud puddle Yuuri! That’s Makka!” Victor called over his shoulder as he ran down the hill towards his very naughty doggo. 

“Oh my god.” Yuuri breathed to himself before leaping off the picnic table and running after him.   

Victor was just about to reach the edge of the mudslick when Makka caught sight of her Papa running after her and immediately turned tail and ran in the opposite direction. Victor tried to stop and change course but his feet slipped out from under him and he fell right into the deepest part of the puddle. 

“Victor! Are you Ok?” Yuuri asked when he reached Victor. Yuuri held out his hand to help Victor get to his feet but he waved Yuuri away. 

“I’m fine! Go get Makka before she decides to make an unsuspecting person a walking Pollock painting.” Victor waved Yuuri away trying to get back to his feet. Yuuri nodded and carefully stepped away from the mud patch and got a headstart on chasing after his boyfriend’s dog who was quickly running towards a group of unsuspecting college aged women standing around with their toy sized dogs in their arms while they chatted away, completely unaware of the force of nature that was quickly coming for their Valentino white bags. 

Luckily Makkachin caught whiff of an interesting smell that caused her to pause just long enough to Yuuri catch up with her and securely grab hold of her collar. Victor caught up behind him and Yuuri almost let go of Makka when he caught sight of Victor’s appearance. He completely soaked and covered in mud. He even had smears of mud streaked across his cheek and clumped in his silver hair. 

“Oh Victor.” Yuuri laughed doubling over in laughter. “You’re a mess.” He chuckled standing back up and wiping away the mud that made its way to Victor’s cheek. Makkachin chose that exact moment that she needed to shake away the water in her fur, flicking clumps of mud onto both of them in the process. To Yuuri’s credit, he held firm on his hold on her despite trying to shield himself from the assault of moisture. 

Victor laughed heartily and threw his arm around Yuuri’s shoulder, “Now we match!” Victor declared proudly. Yuuri pouted and ran his hand across Victor’s mud caked shirt to collect his ammo and ran his hand across Victor’s face, leaving a hand shaped smear on Victor’s cheek. Yuuri smiled proudly at his work. 

The girls that Yuuri had unsuspectingly saved caught notice of the pair and giggled behind their hands. Victor caught on that they now had an audience and he sent them a friendly wave. They whispered conspiratorially back and forth to themselves before shoving forward a particularly nondescript brunette twenty something towards the muddy couple and their equally muddy dog.

“Oh you poor things!” The young woman sympathized disingenuously. “I couldn’t help but to notice you and your friend struggling with your dog and I was wondering if you needed any help?” The woman asked, batting her eyelashes and never taking her eyes off of Victor. 

_ ‘Friend?’  _ Yuuri scoffs internally. This woman had the audacity to further eye Victor up and down like he was a piece of meat to be devoured. Now, Yuuri isn’t often a jealous man but the way this girl was looking at his boyfriend made possessiveness flare up inside him. He resisted the ridiculous urge to stake territory against this straight woman.

“I think we have it covered. Thank you though.” Victor replied politely, albeit slightly uncomfortable. Victor's been hit on before by many a man and woman but probably never so blatantly as well as with his significant other standing right beside him.

“Are you sure? I have towels in my car that I could let you borrow.” The girl pouted and stepped closer to Victor. Perhaps a little too close for Yuuri’s liking. He  _ really _ saw red when she placed a seemingly comforting well manicured hand on Victor’s bicep. “Oh! So strong! Do you work out?”

“When I have time.” Victor said, slyly maneuvering his way out of her touch and taking a step back. 

“Oh my god you have such a cute accent. Where are you from?” She asked, her voice akin to a high pitched squeal.

“Russia.” Victor replied curtly, clearly looking for an out from this uncomfortable situation.

“You must  _ love _ all the American girls then. We’re the best in the world, you know.” She flirted with a playful wink. Yuuri covered his scoff with a cough into his fist.

“Not really, no.” Victor frowned.

Yuuri was silently fuming while he was still holding on to Makkachin. How dense could this girl be? He wanted nothing more than to loop his arm possessively through Victor's and tell this lady to take her man hunting back to a more hetero pasture but hesitated because the rational part of him whispered that it wasn’t worth making a scene over.

Makkachin seemed to have a similar distaste for the woman as she sniffed at the woman's too-tight jeans and sneezed at her strong sickly-sweet perfume. The girl frowned and shooed the muddy dog’s face away from her pristine clothing, a fact that caused Victor’s frown to deepen.

“You know, I don’t think I caught your name.” She said sweetly, still yet to even acknowledge Yuuri’s presence. Unable the respond how he’d like, Yuuri settled for just rolling his eyes at her transparency. 

“I didn’t say.” Victor replied vaguely. He shifted a exhausted glance towards Yuuri that screamed ‘please help me bat off this thirsty straight woman’. Yuuri raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

“Well I’m Jessica and those are my sorority sisters Tanya, Lindsay and Ashley, over there.” She introduced, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “You look like you’re fun to party with. Can I get your number and maybe we could hook up sometime? Go to a few parties?” She asked, flirtatiously placing a hand on Victor’s chest. Victor scowled and gently guided her hand back to it’s own personal space.

“Look, you seem like a sweet girl but I am far too old to be partying.” Victor let her down gently. 

“That’s ok I like older men. Who knows, play your cards right and maybe you can be my sugar daddy.” She giggled before letting out a playful growl and making a clawing motion towards Victor. At this point Yuuri’s anger was ebbing and he just felt secondhand embarrassment for this girl. She clearly wasn’t getting it.

“Sorry.” Victor shook his head, sending another desperate glance Yuuri’s way. Yuuri couldn’t help thinking that this must be the price that Victor pays for selling his soul to the devil for such devastatingly good looks.

“Oh ok.” Jessica replied deflatedly. “Well what about your friend? The  _ least _ I could do is set him up with one of my sorority sisters.” Aaaaand just as Yuuri thought she had caught up to the hints Victor was dropping she steered herself back into this fruitless battle.

“I’m not his friend.” Yuuri ground out impatiently. 

“Oh? Roommates then?” She questioned before leaning in to whisper conspiratorially, “Between you and me Tanya is definitely down for a threesome or a foursome if you bring your cute Russian friend along.”

“I’ll pass.” Yuuri replied without hesitation. 

“What kind of guy passes up an opportunity like that?” Jessica bristled clearly offended by how quickly and resolutely Yuuri had responded. 

“The gay kind. That ‘cute Russian friend’ is my boyfriend and I would really appreciate it if you would stop hitting on him, or me for that matter.” Yuuri replied, his annoyance reaching a boiling point. Beside him, he felt Victor curl his fingers around Yuuri’s.

“Oh my god. I’m so sorry I should have known-” She apologized profusely. 

Victor waved her off with his free hand, “It’s quite alright.”

“-what with the poodle and all.” She continued talking over Victor. Then there came an extended moment of silence as they both processed what she had just said.

“Pardon?” Victor asked, a little dumbstruck and very much confused.

“Well straight guys don’t exactly own poodles, if you know what I mean.” She said.

“I’m afraid I don’t.” Victor replied with unabashed annoyance in his voice. Jessica had the good sense to feel awkward and embarrassed to have to explain herself.

“Well I just meant . . . That poodles are considered kind of a girly breed so not a lot of straight guys own them.” She tried to explain but really only succeeded in digging herself into a deeper hole. “I’m . . . Going to going to go back to my friends now. I hope you two are . . . Uh . . . Very happy together.” She said before scampering back to her group of friends, red faced and mortified.

“That was . . .” Yuuri trailed off trying to find the word in his shock.

“Wow.” Victor finished. 

“Is this a normal thing for you?” Yuuri asked.

“Getting hit on or  _ that _ ?” Victor asked gesturing to the group of young women that was now comforting their poor spurned friend. 

“I just want to know what I’m signing up for.” Yuuri said. Victor looped his arm through Yuuri’s and rested his cheek on the top of Yuuri’s head. 

“You know I’m all yours, right? No straight woman could ever compare.” Victor reassured. 

“Not exactly setting the bar high am I?” Yuuri grumbled. Victor leaned down and kissed Yuuri’s bruised ego. 

“ _ Konfetka _ ,  _ no one _ could compare to you. You’ve ruined me for anyone else.” Victor said. Yuuri blushed, not really knowing how to answer that. Makka nudged her nose into Yuuri’s hand. The mud in her fur was starting to dry and flake but she looked as content as could be. 

“We . . . should probably go. Makkachin needs a bath.” Yuuri said. Victor’s smile fell for a fraction of a second before a more artificial one took its place. Yuuri would have given anything in that moment to put a genuine smile back on his face

“Right. Bath.” Victor nodded, ducking his head and starting to walk Makkachin towards the gate of the dog park.. 

They were silent the whole walk back to the car and with each silent step Yuuri died a little on the inside. He didn’t know what he could say to turn this date back around. Yuuri internally kicked himself for not reciprocating Victor’s tender confession. 

Why didn’t he say anything back? He cared for Victor. Hell, he might even love him. Yuuri never meant to hurt Victor’s feelings he just honestly didn’t know what he could say that would reflect how he felt. He doesn’t have a way with words like Victor does.

“Yuuri?” Victor asked, pulling Yuuri out of his thoughts. 

“Huh?” Yuuri hummed. Without Yuuri even realizing, they had reached the car and Victor was ushering Makkachin into the backseat. The couple followed suit and sat down in the front of the car. Makka already had her head out the back window, ready for the ride to come.

“Would you like me to drop you off back at your place? I’m just going to be giving Makkachin a bath which isn’t too terribly date worthy I’m afraid.” Victor inquired while starting the car.

“Oh. I could help you with Makka.” Yuuri suggested, “I feel like this is at least partially my fault. Well . . .  I’m the one who distracted you at the very least.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Victor assured.

“I want to.” Yuuri replied firmly. Victor looked over and smiled, genuinely this time.

Soon enough the wheels were back in motion in the direction of Victor’s home, muddy dog in tow. The awkward tension still hung over Yuuri’s head and he felt the need to say something.

“I’m sorry. About back there.” Yuuri began.

“What on Earth could you be sorry for? Is this about that girl?” Victor asked. Yuuri shook his head suddenly very interested in a loose thread from his shirt. “Oh. When I said. . .? Look I’m so sorry Yuuri. I crossed the line. I lack a filter and sometimes I say things and they just come out without me thinking about it.” Victor apologized.

“So you didn’t mean it.” Yuuri deflated.

“No! I did! It’s just . . . I know you get overwhelmed when I make such broad confessions like that and I know we’ve been trying to take things slow but sometimes my mouth acts before my rational. What I said was completely honest, Yuuri. I believe with all my heart that you might be it for me. You don’t have to say anything back right now, just know that I care about you and I’m serious about this relationship.” Victor explained. The silence fell between them as they both waited for the other to make a move. Yuuri gently took hold of Victor’s free hand between the console.

“I’m serious about us too, Victor. I know I have a hard time expressing myself as openly as you can but that’s something I’m trying to work on. I care about you. I think I’m too scared to call it love yet but in time . . .” Yuuri trailed off.

"Well until that time, I'll be right here by your side." Victor promised squeezing Yuuri's hand firmly. 

"You're not upset?" Yuuri asked.

"Not at all. I want us to take this at our pace. There's no need to rush into anything. As long as we're both happy, I'm happy. You just have to communicate with me Yuuri." Victor said supportively. 

"I know. I'm not great at relationships but I'm trying for you Victor. I just need you to be patient with me sometimes." Yuuri said.

"I'll be as patient as you need me to be. I'm not usually a patient man so I can't promise I'll always be perfect but I'm dedicated to making this work." Victor said, raising their clasped hands and pressing a kiss to the back of Yuuri's hand. "Just tell me if you need me to give you space."

"This is fine." Yuuri said squeezing their hands. "And for the record no one compares to you either . . . you know . . . in case there was any doubts."

Victor chuckled and put the car in park before pulling Yuuri into a tight hug. 

"Glad to know we're on the same page." Victor laughed happily into Yuuri's shoulder. Makkachin decided to make her presence known in the moment as she crawled into the front seat of the car to squeeze herself onto Yuuri's lap. She pawed at the door, ready to go inside and make every piece of furniture in Victor's house dirty. "Alright Ms. Makkachin it's time for you to take a bath. Isn't that right you dirty, stinky girl?" Victor cooed scratching behind Makka's ears. She had no idea what she had coming for her.

Yuuri reached around Makkachin and pushed the door open for her. She leapt down and out of the car and started trotting towards Victor's front door. Victor chuckled, pulled the keys out of the ignition and followed the poodle to the door. As soon as Victor opened the door Makkachin moved to trot straight into the living room but Victor caught her just in time to redirect her towards the bathroom. 

"Oh no you don't little miss. It's bath time for you." Victor chastised, pulling on Makkachin's collar. She put on the breaks as soon as she realized where her Papa was taking her. Finally the struggle became hard enough that Victor just wrapped his arms underneath her and picked her up. "Yuuri go start the shower!" He commanded, awkwardly rushing towards the bathroom with a flailing poodle in his arms. Yuuri jogged ahead of him and turned on the tap. 

Victor found himself stuck in the doorway of the bathroom when Makkachin spread her legs out so that Victor couldn't fit her through the door. In a feat of quick thinking Victor pirouetted and backed into bathroom, making sure that Makka couldn't spread eagle again. Victor plopped her down into the tub. 

"Hold her down Yuuri." Victor instructed. 

Yuuri wrapped his arms around Makkachin to limit her attempts at jumping out of the bathtub. At this point, Yuuri was already soaking wet so he decided to just bite the bullet and climbed into the tub with her, getting sprayed be damned. Victor lathered Makkachin's fur with her no doubt very fancy shampoo.    
  
"Victor, hold up. I think I might be having a stroke. Do you smell pancakes?" Yuuri said, seriously worried by the strong smell of maple syrup permeating the air.    
  
"Oh that's just Makka's shampoo. It's maple oatmeal." Victor explained.    
  
"Maple oatmeal?"    
  
"Yeah, the oatmeal moisturizes her skin and the maple scent is so she doesn’t smell like she was raised in a barn.” Victor explained, vigorously scrubbing the mud out of Makka’s curls. She whipped her head around towards Victor when he accidently worked a tangle a little to hard. “Ah! Don’t you give me that look. This is your own fault you know.” Victor scolded, bringing the shower head up to rinse out the suds clinging to her back.

“So instead you prefer her smelling like a Waffle House?” Yuuri asked, pushing back Makka’s wet curls from her eyes. By this point she had accepted her fate and was quietly pouting through her bath but Yuuri could sense retaliation looming in her eyes. 

“It brings back good memories of our college days.” Victor shrugged with a chuckle. “Isn’t that right Makka? Yes you  _ loved  _ Waffle House scraps back in the day.” Victor, cooed squishing the aging dog’s chubby cheeks.

“How long have you had Makkachin?” Yuuri wondered. Victor leaned back and started working on the mud dried underneath her belly.

“She’s an old lady now but I got her while she was just a puppy. After my parents died, Oksana and Nikolai took me to grief counselling and my therapist recommended getting a therapy dog to help with the survivors guilt and depression. Not long after that Oksana and Nikolai brought Makka home for me. I wasn’t really interested in having a dog, well in those days I wasn’t really interested in much of anything which I suppose was sort of the problem. Before Makka, it felt like nothing mattered anymore. I completely ignored her for the first week she was home with us but Oksana eventually put her foot down, barged into my room when I was having a particularly bad dissociative episode, plopped puppy Makkachin on my chest and said to me ‘Victor Alexanderevich Nikiforov, she is your dog. She needs you just as much as you need her. At the very least you need to get up to take care of her needs, even if you don’t care to tend to your own’” Victor remembered with a sad laugh. Makkachin sensed her Papa’s turn in mood and she comfortingly pushed her nose up into Victor’s chin and pressed herself closer to Victor’s chest. Victor absently scratched behind her ear as if to reassure her that he was alright. “It helped knowing that Makka depended on me. Some days she was the only reason I got out of bed and in return she took care of me as much as a dog could take care of a lost grieving teenager. As much trouble as she makes whenever she’s around you, she really is a good dog. She’s been my rock for years. She hasn’t been a true therapy dog for a while now but even still I don’t know what I would do without her.”

“You two truly are best friends aren’t you?” Yuuri asked softly. Yuuri tenderly scratched at the top of the dog’s head. 

“I’m sorry darling but this is one love you can never break apart.” Victor said, hugging the wet dog to him. Makka didn’t protest and in fact wagged her tail happily at the attention.

“I would never try.” Yuuri reassured.

“She could help you too you know.” Victor broached casually, shutting off the tap and reaching for a nearby towel. 

“What do you mean?” Yuuri asked.

“She’s trained to respond to a common range of depression and anxiety mannerisms. She mostly helped ground me when I was disassociating but she can help with anxiety too. I know you get nervous easily and I think that may be why she gravitates towards you so often. I think the old mother hen in her wants to help you too.”

“That’s very kind of her.”

“She’s a good girl.” Victor said scratching her ears. He finished drying her off with a towel and picked her up out of the tub. “Alright you, run along. Bath time’s over.” Victor said opening the bathroom door for her. She didn’t need to be asked twice. She quickly trotted out of the room and Victor helped Yuuri back to his feet without slipping. 

“You are soaking wet, love.” Victor chuckled, leaning back to take in Yuuri’s sopping clothes that were starting to stick uncomfortably to his skin. 

“You haven’t heard? I’m trying a new look. Just you wait it’s going to be all the craze this summer.” Yuuri replied sarcastically. Yuuri pulled the wet cotton of his shirt away from his stomach only for it to fall back to it’s original clingy position, the skin showing underneath as if the fabric weren’t even there.

“I’ll say.” Victor purred, giving Yuuri a playful appreciative wink and attempted to curl his arms around Yuuri’s waist.. Yuuri playfully shoved Victor’s chest but he remained unphased. 

“Perv.” Yuuri accused with an amused eye roll. “Do you mind if I use your dryer?” Yuuri asked.

“But whatever will you wear while your clothes are drying?” Victor smirked devilishly.

“I was just going to steal some of your clothes.” Yuuri shrugged.

“God,I was just going to suggest we both run around the house in our underwear but now I’m not sure which option I find hotter.”

“Sorry Nikiforov, you can’t unlock the Cute Boy naked skin until level twenty. You’re going to have to deal with me snatching your clothes for now.” Yuuri shot back, leaving the bathroom with Victor following shortly behind. 

“Darn. Looks like I'm going to have to do some grinding to level up then." Victor teased, playfully pushing his hips against Yuuri's hip. Yuuri let out an undignified squeak and tried wriggling out of his boyfriend's grasp. 

That definitely isn't a joystick in his pocket. 

"You're the worst." Yuuri chuckled pushing Victor away. 

Victor caught Yuuri by the waist and playfully nipped at his earlobe from behind. Yuuri giggled as Victor moved to lavish attention to the hollow underneath Yuuri's ear, making his way to the crook of Yuuri's neck as his final destination. 

"Whatever are we going to do to pass the time, Yuuri?" Victor purred. An intense shiver of want curled down Yuuri's spine. Yuuri pushed his back against Vitor's chest so that Yuuri could lean his head back and look at Victor with dark hooded eyes. 

"We could play a rousing game of chess." Yuuri suggested.

"I can think of something a little more titillating." Victor said, pushing aside the neck of Yuuri's shirt to expose his collar bone. He leaned his head down and started peppering short erotic kisses along Yuuri's soft delicate collarbone. Yuuri tilted his head to the side to give Victor better access without really even giving it a thought. All he knew was that Victor's lips felt wonderful against his skin and he would be damned if he stopped him right now. 

Victor ran his hand upwards from his waist to trace the outline of Yuuri's abs that his wet shirt had highlight. Yuuri couldn't hold back the pleased sigh that escaped his lips when Victor's hand snuck it's way underneath the fabric barrier between them. Victor hands felt like fire against his cool skin and Yuuri wondered what his hands might feel like elsewhere on his body. 

"We could cross stitch." Yuuri said with a new air of breathlessness to his voice. Even to his own ears he didn't sound convinced that he was suggesting they do something other than make out like a pair of horny teenagers whose parents had left for the weekend. 

Victor hummed unconvinced against Yuuri's skin. Yuuri threaded his fingers through Victor's hair as the man trailed his lips back up Yuuri's neck until he was slowly and tenderly placing kisses on the side of Yuuri's lips. 

Desperate to feel the extent of Victor's mouth on his, Yuuri turned his head and finally connected their lips. In Yuuri's head, choirs sang, fireworks erupted, there was world peace, and cancer was cured. In reality they were kissing like it was their last day on earth and this was their last moments to prove their love for each other. 

When Yuuri was with Victor, all of his reservations and common sense flies out the window. In that moment the only thing that exists between them is the feeling of their lips making love to each other and the joy of knowing that this could very well be their life now. 

"Mmmm . . . What about . . . discussing . . . politics." Yuuri staggered in between Victor's passionate kisses. 

"Yuuri." Victor groaned with wanton need. Vicor’s desperate expression combined with his dark dilated eyes was enough to bring Yuuri to his knees in an instant. When Victor said his name with such unadulterated need, he could ask for the moon and the stars and Yuuri would die in his quest to make Victor happy. All thoughts of his teasing game went out the door and all he wanted was wherever this was heading. 

'Fuck it' Yuuri thought in abandon. Yuuri turned around and wrapped his arms around Victor's neck, stood on the tips of his toes and dove into Victor's lips with wild passionate abandon. Victor widened his eyes in surprise and took a step back to steady himself from the force of Yuuri but ultimately closed his eyes and succumbed to the kiss. 

As they kissed Victor's hands traveled from where they were wrapped around Yuuri's waist down towards the crest of Yuuri's ass. Victor firmly grasped Yuuri's cheeks to support him seeing as he had to stand at the tips of his toes to even comfortably reach Victor's lips. Yuuri pushed himself closer to Victor and hooked his leg around Victor's hips. Victor mewled against Yuuri's lips and turned them so that he could pin Yuuri against the wall. 

In one fluid motion Victor lifted him off the ground and Yuuri wrapped both of his legs around Victor's hips. The new angle pressed Yuuri's hard against the delicious pressure of Victor's growing need. Yuuri pulled away and gasped out Victor's name and Victor took that opportunity to lavish hot sensual kisses onto his long neglected neck. Victor bit and sucked Yuuri's neck until Yuuri was sure that he would have quite a few tender marks to cover up later but at the moment Yuuri was in heaven and could not give a flying fuck how much money he's going to have to invest in concealer later on. 

Victor made a subtle noise of discomfort and Yuuri swore he could feel Victor’s arms trembling ever so slightly where he was holding Yuuri up against the wall. Yuuri pulled away and put a hand on Victor’s shoulder. 

“You alright?” Yuuri asked with concern. 

“Ah . . . I’m not as young as I once was.” Victor admitted, a tinge of an embarrassed blush coloring his cheeks. “If we had met when we were in college I probably would have been able hold you up for hours without breaking a sweat. I’m a decrepit old man now so I think we should probably move this to somewhere more horizontal before I break a hip or whatever it is that old men break when they pretend they’re still twenty-one.”

“I’m actually really glad you said something because this wall isn’t doing my back any favors.” Yuuri said suddenly aware of the growing throb in his lower back. Holding himself upright in Victor’s arms was also working his core harder than he’s worked it since his training days. 

“Let’s leave the wall stuff to the kids, yeah?” Victor chuckled good-naturedly. Yuuri nodded and rested his forehead against Victor’s. The shared a lingering kiss one full of softness and overflowing with tender adoration.

“Couch?” Yuuri asked when they pulled away for breath. Victor nodded and walked them the short distance over to Victor’s far more comfortable couch. Victor carefully set Yuuri down on the couch and settled himself in between Yuuri’s legs. 

“Much better.” Victor grinned. 

“I’d hate to get your couch all wet though.” Yuuri teased, running his hand down Victor’s chest. 

“That’s easily solved.” Victor said, pushing Yuuri’s damp shirt up. Yuuri helped him the rest of the way there and tossed his shirt onto the floor below them. Yuuri toyed with the button of his jeans nervously which Victor caught. 

“Makkachin took no prisoners.” Yuuri mumbled shyly, his cheeks flaring up at the thought of being so exposed in front of Victor. He wanted it but he was still nervous to be exposed so vulnerably. 

Victor smiled softly as if he could sense nerves. Victor cupped Yuuri’s cheek as if he were made of porcelain and channeled warmth and comfort into a slow familiar kiss. 

“We don’t have to.” Victor swore with nothing but tender fondness in his eyes. Yuuri felt comfortable that if he really wanted to douse the fire now, Victor would cool the flames without hesitation. But Yuuri didn’t want that. 

“It’s not that,” Yuuri shook his head. “I’m just feeling a little underdressed right now is all.” Yuuri explained, his fingers toying with the collar of Victor’s shirt. Without hesitation Victor sat up, tore off his own shirt and pushed down his his pants so that all he was wearing was his underwear, a black thong no less. 

“Better?”

“Oh  _ come on. _ ” Yuuri groaned his eyes working up and down Victor’s perfectly toned body. Was there nothing about this man that wasn’t hand chiseled by the gods?

“Is something wrong?” Victor asked. Yuuri shook his head. 

“You’re just so beautiful.” Yuuri explained. Victor smiled, leaned back into Yuuri’s body and started tracing kisses along Yuuri’s chest, making his way to the stretch marks that were peeking over the waistband of his jeans.

“You’re perfect Yuuri.” Victor breathed against Yuuri’s skin. Victor kissed ever downward until Yuuri’s insecurities had melted away and he was toying with the waistband of his jeans. “Can I?” Victor asked, running his finger against the button of Yuuri’s jeans. Yuuri nodded his head and before he knew it his jeans had joined the pile of wet clothes already on the floor. 

Victor traveled down Yuuri’s body and he settled his head between Yuuri’s legs. His nose tickled the inside of Yuuri’s inner thigh. 

“Is this ok?” Victor asked in between searing kisses to Yuuri’s soft skin. Yuuri gasped and wound his fingers through Victor’s hair nodding emphatically. 

“Please.” Yuuri keened, eager to feel Victor’s lips on the most sensitive parts of his body. Victor glanced up at Yuuri from under his eyelashes with a dark carnal expression. He pushed himself up and dove to capture Yuuri’s lips in a ravenous kiss. Yuuri melted into Victor embrace, swallowing their combined moans and slowly rocking his hips up to meet Victor’s thong covered undulating hips. Yuuri felt like he was somewhere between heaven and hell all at once. He was turned on and desperate and dying from an overwhelming need to hold Victor as closes as possible. 

Things were going great, if Yuuri said so himself and he might have eagerly partaken in whatever relief Victor was willing to provide but but out of the corner of his eye he saw Makkachin staring them down, tail wagging and a sharp intensity in her doggo eyes. 

Their eyes connected and Makkachin refused to look away from the couple.

“Victor stop.” Yuuri sighed, pulling away. His body cried out in frustration but there was no way Yuuri could continue knowing Makkachin was staring at them make out. 

“What is it?” Victor said moving his molten kisses down Yuuri’s neck. “Did I do something you didn’t like?” 

“No it’s not that.” Yuuri gasped out, forgetting momentarily why he was protesting in the first place. “ _ Makkachin is watching us. _ ” Yuuri whispered, glancing at the poodle who was still just sitting there and  _ staring _ . Victor looked over at his dog and she bent down in a playful stance, front paws flat on the ground and butt in the air with her tail wagging happily. 

“ _ Bork!”  _ Makkachin barked from across the room, bouncing a little with the effort. 

“Makka go lay down.” Victor commanded, snapping his finger towards the kitchen. 

Makkachin barked again except louder and more defiant. She trotted up to the couple and stared them down. Makkachin pushed her head against Yuuri’s face and started showering him with slobbery kisses. Yuuri laughed and turned his head away to avoid the attack. 

“No Makka.” Victor said sternly. He gently pushed her snout away and tried with all his might to get her to move into  _ any other room _ but she wasn’t having any of it. She started shifting her weight from foot to foot as she considered jumping up onto the couch but before either of them could do anything she lept up and laid down on top of them. 

Victor collapsed onto Yuuri and Yuuri was crushed by the weight of both of them. The air in Yuuri’s lungs whooshed out of him on impact and he groaned under the weight of his boyfriend and dog. 

This is Makka’s revenge. 

“Oh my god Victor. I can’t breath.” Yuuri choked out. 

This is it. This is how Yuuri dies. Crushed by a hot nearly-naked Slav and a poodle. 

What a way to go. 

Victor eventually is able to convince Makka to get down (read: Victor wiggles his body until Makka decides it isn’t worth the balancing act anymore). When she’s off and sulking over to lay down by her food bowl Yuuri and Victor break down into laughter. 

Yuuri isn’t even mad because honestly when has their first  _ anything  _ gone right without something ridiculous getting in their way. 

“The mood’s dead isn’t it?” Victor chuckled rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Yuuri leaned over and pressed a sympathetic kiss to Victor’s blushing cheek. 

“Cold and six feet under. Sorry Victor.” Yuuri sympathized, sitting up and rubbing his boyfriend’s shoulders soothingly. 

“Eh it’s alright. We probably should have stopped anyway.” Victor sighed, tucking his legs underneath him where he sat on the other side of the couch. “It’s uh . . . been a while since I’ve had to buy condoms. I’m pretty sure all the ones I have are expired if I haven’t thrown them out already. Probably best not to use those.” Victor blushed. 

“How long  _ has  _ it been? Those things are supposed to last for years.” Yuuri teased, playfully poking Victor in the ribs. 

“Ha ha go ahead make fun of the old man with the non existant sex life.” Victor pouted. Yuuri laughed and patted Victor’s cheek sympathetically. 

“For future reference I have recently purchased lube and condoms in my car.” Yuuri admitted. 

“Why do you have those in your car?” Victor asked.

“Phichit made me buy them.” Yuuri said. “Don’t ask.” Yuuri interrupted when Victor opened his mouth to speak with a quizzical look on his face. 

“I probably don’t want to know.” Victor shakes his head before moving so he could rest his head on Yuuri’s shoulder. “I’ll try and pick some up the next time I’m out. Any special requests?” He asked, turning his head so that he could look at Yuuri. 

“Latex free, please.” Yuuri requested. 

“You got it.” Victor swore craning his head up to pull Yuuri into a sweet and lazy kiss. 

“We should probably start that laundry now.” Yuuri said pulling away and eying the pile of clothes that had been thrown casually onto the living room floor. 

“Oh right. I completely forgot about that.” Victor laughed. Yuuri got up from the couch clad in just his underwear and starting rounding up all the clothes. 

“I’m sure you did.” Yuuri said throwing a wink over his shoulder. “Come help me figure out how to use your machines.” 

“Yes dear!” Victor called, dutifully following Yuuri to his laundry machines. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this took so long to put up! I blame school and the fact that these chapters always end up being longer than 10k. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it!!!
> 
> As always feel free to follow me @cait-writes-stuff over on tumblr. I always love hearing from you guys!!!

**Author's Note:**

> So I hope you guys liked it! I have a lot of big plans in store for this one and I'm excited to get this fic underway!
> 
> Feel free to reach out to me on Tumblr @cait-writes-stuff and on Twitter @Caitwritestuff


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